Prologue for "Ideas and High Ideals for the 21st Century"
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Date Published: January 1, 2024
Date Modified: January 18, 2024 |
Prologue from "THINK Again!: 20th Century Ideas and High Ideals for the 21st Century"
THINK Again!: 20th Century Ideas and High Ideals for the 21st Century has fifteen pages of insights from individuals, organizations, and newspaper editors highlighting the extraordinary character of Thomas J. Watson Sr.
This is a small selection of the quotes from the book.
This is a small selection of the quotes from the book.
A Prologue by Those Who Knew Tom Watson
Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. President
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In the passing of Thomas J. Watson, the nation has lost a truly fine American—an industrialist who was first of all a great citizen and a great humanitarian.
I have lost a good friend, whose counsel was always marked by a deep-seated concern for people. [see attribution #1] |
J. C. Penney, Chairman of the Board of J. C. Penney Company
Tom Watson’s original mind ranged far beyond stocks and statistics. His interests spread beyond machines to music, beyond calculating instruments to culture, beyond International Business Machines to international peace and brotherhood.
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The Golden Rule was a vitalizing part of his make-up, and he naturally considered his business in the light of profits for the customers, good pay for his workers, and reasonable returns for stockholders. …
Tom Watson was a serious thinker [but] he was no long-faced intellectual. As he thought, he often broke into an infectious laugh, for he saw the funny side of life. Many here today will not feel sorrow as they think of him but, on the contrary, they will recall with a smile the times when his jokes relieved tension, or made a gloomy face relax with a happy laugh. … |
He recognized in all men, his brothers. That simple, yet profound, thought governed his life and work. This was the foundation for his fair dealing with customers, employees and associates.
[see attribution #2]
[see attribution #2]
Lord Rowallan, Chief Scout
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News has just reached us that Mr. Thomas J. Watson, International Commissioner of the Boy Scouts of America, has “Gone Home.” We shall miss him at our gatherings. It was he who fitted up the Hall at Niagara with the simultaneous interpretation apparatus which saved so much time.
He was head of International Business Machines, but we shall remember him as a very humble man, who believed that Scouting was, after a Faith in God, the most important thing in the world. |
Ripe in years, but still young at heart, his great wealth meant nothing to him personally: he was only deeply grateful for the power it gave him to help others.
Our sympathy goes out to his family and the Boy Scouts of America who have lost such a leader and such a friend.
[see attribution #3]
[see attribution #3]
Rev. Dr. Paul Austin Wolfe, Brick Presbyterian Church
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Tom Watson was one of the great forces of our time. … He had a singleness of mind.
He saw things simply. It was because of this simplicity in seeing through a problem that he could make wise decisions. … The truth came to him simply--he believed clothes don’t make the man, but they assist the gentleman. … In a confused world, he never lost his sense of values. He was always optimistic because he knew the kindness in the human heart; he understood the intelligence of the common man. … |
Success never changed his ideals and standards. With him, integrity was the root of character.
[see attribution #4]
[see attribution #4]
Helen Keller, Blind and Deaf American Author and Educator
This was written to Mrs. Jeanette Watson by Helen Keller after the death of Tom Watson Sr.
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With deep sorrow I learned yesterday of your bereavement, and in thought I clasp your hand. … However, as the mists of suffering lift from your eyes, there will surely be comfort for you in the wonderful benefits that Mr. Watson’s rich life has conferred upon his fellowmen.
Proudly, I remember meeting him and how thrilled I was by his achievements as a leader of the seeing and the blind in American industry. He was truly an explorer of new frontiers of service. His abilities and his enlightened interest in the blind enabled him to create and maintain a sense of human dignity and self-help in those to whom he opened doors of employment. |
The devices and methods by which he and his engineers helped the blind to enlarge their productive capacities are a memory that will shed luster upon his name forever.
[see attribution #5]
[see attribution #5]
The Salt Lake Tribune
Thomas J. Watson believed that “company spirit” was the basis of business success, and he made that policy work. … He was an apostle of salesmanship … but much more important were his vigor, far-sightedness and administrative ability. … Though the direction of IBM was itself a tremendous undertaking, Mr. Watson found time for many other interests.
Tom Watson was a patron of American art. … He sponsored the development of the “eye bank” and research in arthritis. education, welfare, Negro colleges, and Christian-Jewish cooperation were only a few of the movements which benefited from his efforts and contributions.
He was, as President Eisenhower remarked, “a great citizen and a great humanitarian.”
[see attribution #6]
Tom Watson was a patron of American art. … He sponsored the development of the “eye bank” and research in arthritis. education, welfare, Negro colleges, and Christian-Jewish cooperation were only a few of the movements which benefited from his efforts and contributions.
He was, as President Eisenhower remarked, “a great citizen and a great humanitarian.”
[see attribution #6]
The Final Tribute: IBM Business Machines Newspaper
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The visionary interests of Mr. Watson were as universal as his friends.
He was a business leader who placed the long-range needs of the country and the customer above self-interest; He was a humanist who realized the importance of the development of the whole man; He was a world statesman who recognized that American peace and prosperity are inexorably bound to the welfare of the world; He was a patron of the arts who knew that a person does not live by work alone; He was an educator who emphasized the value of knowledge in any endeavor. |
Most important . . .
Thomas J. Watson was a man who valued other men above all things.
[see attribution #7]
Thomas J. Watson was a man who valued other men above all things.
[see attribution #7]
Attributions:
(1) Cited in “From the President of the United States,” IBM Business Machines, Vol. 39, No. 12, July 18, 1956, p. 2. Also located in the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, DDE Diary Series, Box 16, “Note regarding Press Release on Death of Thomas J. Watson” dated June 19, 1956 and carried on June 20, 1956 in several United States newspapers.
(2) SMU DeGolyer Library, J. C. Penney files, “Eulogy,” Watson Memorial Homestead Dedication, June 30, 1957
(3) Lord Rowallan, “The Outlook,” The Scouter, August 1956, Vol. 50, No. 8, p. 4
(4) “IBM Bids Farewell to Its Founder,” IBM Business Machines, Vol. 39 No. 12, July 18, 1956, pp. 5, 8, 9
(5) Helen Keller, “Condolences letter to Jeannette Watson on Thomas Watson’s death,” Helen Keller Archives, 1956; Copyright © American Foundation for the Blind, Helen Keller Archives
(6) Editorial, “The Apostle of ‘Think,’ ” The Salt Lake Tribune, June 21, 1956, p. 10–A
(7) “IBM Bids Farewell to Its Founder,” IBM World Trade News, Vol. 8, No. 8, July 18, 1956, p. 15
