Sam Walton — "I've always had a strong bias towards action."

"I probably have traveled and walked into more variety stores than anybody in America. I am just trying to get ideas, any kind of ideas that will help our company. Most of us don't invent ideas. We tak…"

"I like to tell a story about one of our early managers who wanted to buy a new car. I told him, 'You're not going to get a raise until you drive that car for five years.'"

"I worked hard, and I got lucky."

"Walton also had an allergy for bureaucracy. He wanted to reduce the number of layers in the company, from chairman to the store associates."

"I've been in the store business all my life, and I love it. I love the smell of the floor wax."