Top 20 Quotes & Sayings by J. R. D. Tata

Good human relations not only bring great personal rewards but are essential to the success of any enterprise.

Live Life a little dangerously

Nothing worthwhile is ever achieved without deep thought and hard work.

Productivity and efficiency can be achieved only step by step with sustained hard work, relentless attention to details and insistence on the highest standards of quality and performance.

Most of our troubles are due to poor implementation….wrong priorities and unattainable targets

To be a leader, you have got to lead human beings with affection

I know that aiming at perfection has its drawbacks. It makes you go into details that you can avoid but that is the only way you can achieve excellence. So, in that case, being finicky is essential.

The wealth gathered by Jamsetji Tata and his sons in half a century of industrial pioneering formed but a minute fraction of the amount by which they enriched the nation. The whole of that wealth is held in trust for the people and used exclusively for their benefit. The cycle is thus complete; what came from the people has gone back to the people many times over.

Cleanliness is the Hallmark of perfect standards and the best quality inspector is the conscience

Making steel may be compared to making a chappati. To make a good chappati, even a golden pin will not work unless the dough is good

The essence of air transport is speed, and speed is unfortunately one of the most expensive commodities in the world, principally because of the disproportionate amount of the power required to achieve high speed and to lift loads thousands of feet into the air. This is strikingly illustrated by the fact that while an average cargo ship, freight train and transport aeroplane are each equipped with engines totalling about 2,500 H.P., the ship can carry a load of about 7,000 tons, the train 800 tons and the plane only two and a half tons.

To lead men, you have to lead them with affection.

Quality is first engineered; only then it is inspected

Money is like manure. It stinks when you pile it; it grows when you spread it

Always aim at perfection for only then will you achieve excellence

If I have any merit, it is getting along with individuals, according to their ways and characteristics. At times it involves suppressing yourself. It is painful, but necessary. To be a leader you have got to lead human beings with affection.

No success or achievement in material terms is worthwhile unless it serves the needs or interests of the country and its people and is achieved by fair and honest means.

Uncommon thinkers reuse what common thinkers refuse

If you want excellence, you must aim at perfection. It makes you go into detail that you can avoid. It takes a lot of energy out of you but that's the only way you finally actually achieve excellence. So in that sense, being finicky is essential.

I do not want India to be an economic superpower. I want India to be a happy country.