Sam Walton

Give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same things as rich people.

Sam Walton

I always favored the mavericks who challenged my rules. I may have fought them all the way, but I respected them, and, in the end, I listened to them a lot more closely than I did the pack who always agreed with everything I said.

Sam Walton

I don’t know what would have happened to Wal-Mart if we had laid low and never stirred up the competition. My guess is that we would have remained a strictly regional operator.

Sam Walton

I got into retailing because I wanted a real job.

Sam Walton

I had to pick myself up and get on with it, do it all over again, only even better this time.

Sam Walton

I learned a lesson which has stuck with me all through the years: you can learn from everybody. I didn’t just learn from reading every retail publication I could get my hands on, I probably learned the most from studying what John Dunham was doing across the street

Sam Walton

I not only knew I wanted to go into retailing, I also knew I wanted to go into business for myself.

Sam Walton

I think my constant fiddling and meddling with the status quo may have been one of my biggest contributions to the later success of Wal-Mart.

Sam Walton

I’d still say that visiting the stores and listening to our folks was one of the most valuable uses of my time as an executive. But really, our best ideas usually do come from the folks in the stores. Period.

Sam Walton

If I had to single out one element in my life that has made a difference for me, it would be a passion to compete.

Sam Walton