Swim upstream. Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom.

The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary.

Commit to your business. Believe in it more than anybody else.

After a lifetime of swimming upstream, I am convinced that one of the real secrets to Wal-mart's phenomenal success has been that very tendency.

There’s a lot more business out there in small town America than I ever dreamed of.

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.

I guess in all my years, what I heard more than anything else was: a mere town cannot support a discount store for very long.