More Insights into Thomas J. Watson Sr.'s Character

Date Published: January 1, 2024
Date Modified: April 13, 2026

Insights into the Character of Thomas J. Watson Sr., Traditional Founder of IBM from "THINK Again!: 20th Century Ideas and High Ideals for the 21st Century."

A Few More Insights into Thomas J. Watson Sr.'s Character

​Tom Watson told the 1936 Colgate University graduating class that “Reputation is what people think you are; character is what you really are.” After reading the prologue to THINK Again!: 20th Century Ideas and High Ideals for the 21st Century and then Thomas J. Watson Sr.'s 253 editorials, the reader will have a good start in divining Tom Watson’s character—who he really was.

This is an additional collection of insightful quotes about Thomas J. Watson Sr. that were published during his lifetime. These quotes should help individuals who might think, quite appropriately, of the prologue that everyone “speaks kindly in eulogies.” The following comments come from an eclectic group of individuals: a magazine owner, a newspaper columnist, a State Supreme Court Justice, a fellow industrialist, university presidents, stockholders, a state governor, an engineer and inventor, and—of all things, an opera star.

​Plato once wrote that "When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them.”

Plato, known for picking his words carefully, chose the word “when” not “if.”

For those who attack Tom Watson Sr.'s character today ...

​Read these insights into Watson Sr. and "THINK!"

Quotes about the character of Thomas J. Watson Sr. listed in chronological order:

• “Beloved by them who know him, respected by all, devoted to the public welfare, a gentleman not of the old school or the new, but one who can qualify in both.”

Owen D. Young, Society of Genesee 35th Annual Dinner, February 1934

• “The stockholders here present … do hereby express their appreciation to Thomas J. Watson for his matchless achievements as their president during a long term of years, and for his honesty, integrity, and work as its executive officer.”​

Shareholder Resolution, Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, April 1934

• ​“I know no man in America who has done more, and very few who have done as much, as Mr. Watson has done for his country, not only in the business field, but for education, for civic activities, for fraternities, for youth—in short, he spends his days and most of his evenings and nights … and I don’t know how he gets the time to do it all … going about doing good in the broadest sense.”

B. C. Forbes, Presentation of Modernization Cup, May 1936

• “Thomas J. Watson is upstanding, declarative. He is important to his own business because he pays so much attention to things and affairs outside.”

Charles B. Driscoll, New York Day by Day Column, June 1938

Thomas J. Watson Sr. receiving the "Insignia of Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy."

• “The keynote of Mr. Watson’s life is service. No one who knows him even slightly can doubt that. I don’t think there is a man alive who is more eager to better the common lot of mankind, regardless of race, creed, or color.”​

​Frederick L. Fuller, My Half Century as an Inventor, 1938

• ​“His dynamic personality, vision, and ability have brought him into world prominence by reason of his championship of those causes that make for peace and accord among nations.”

Grover A. Whalen, President, New York World’s Fair, May 1939

• ​[Mr. Watson’s life is the] “saga of America. ... He is possessed of hard-headed practicability, full of faith in the future, a man whose life is the best fruits of America, for he has integrity beyond price, vision beyond the present, understanding that approaches the wisdom of a seer.”

New York Supreme Court Justice Martin W. Deyo, Binghamton Chamber of Commerce event, 1945

• “Thomas J. Watson prefers to light a candle rather than to criticize the dark.”

​The Rev. Robert I. Gannon, President of Fordham University, 1946

A high-quality, black-and-white picture of Thomas J. Watson being presented the "Migel Medal of the American Foundation for the Blind" from Helen Keller.

• “He is a citizen of the world, seeing the same opportunities for all people of all creeds and races. He is meticulous and precise, the way an executive should be and yet, can discuss anything.”

Jarmilla Novotna, Czech Republic Opera Star, August 1949

• “No one better than he exemplifies the fact that machine does not displace man. … Thomas J. Watson … has remained a man of simple, unaffected character, genial, approachable, and eager to give any good cause a helping hand.”​

​“Thomas J. Watson at 80,” The New York Times, February 1954

• “One of the truly great personalities of our time—a beacon light to businessmen in all free countries devoted to international cooperation.”

Dr. Frederick Brown Harris, Chaplain, United States Senate, July 1956

• ​“A man who walked with kings but did not lose the common touch.”

North Callahan, “So This Is New York,” Johnson City Press, October 1956

- - -     In Summary     - - - 

​“The world is better for his [Thomas J. Watson Sr.] having lived.”
​B. C. Forbes, Fact and Comment, Forbes Magazine, June 1951

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