I'd hate to see any descendants of mine fall into the category of what I'd call 'idle rich' - a group I've never had much use for.

I learned early on that one of the secrets to campus leadership was the simplest thing of all: speak to people coming down the sidewalk before they speak to you. I did that in college. I did it when I carried my papers. I would always look ahead and speak to the person coming toward me. If I knew them, I would call them by name, but even if I didn't I would still speak to them. Before long, I probably knew more students than anybody in the university, and they recognized me and considered me their friend.

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

Communicate everything you can to your associates. The more they know, the more they care. Once they care, there is no stopping them.

If you love your work, you'll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you - like a fever.

The two most important words I ever wrote were on that first Wal-Mart sign, ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed’. They're still up there, and they have made all the difference.

You can learn from everybody.