Tata Quotes

I have always been very confident and very upbeat about the future potential of India. I think it is a great country with great potential. ~ Ratan Tata

Power and wealth are not two of my main stakes. ~ Ratan Tata

The government should do its job. The government's job is, in fact, to run the country, to manage the country, to govern the country. And governance is an important thing, not application where it suits one so, to micro control where it suits them on the other hand. ~ Ratan Tata

I have two or three cars that I like, but today, Ferrari would be the best car I have driven in terms of being an impressive car. ~ Ratan Tata

Freedom without the strength to support it and, if need be, defend it, would be a cruel delusion. And the strength to defend freedom can itself only come from widespread industrialisation and the infusion of modern science and technology into the country's economic life. ~ Jamsetji Tata

Be sure to lay wide streets planted with shady trees, every other of a quick-growing variety. Be sure that there is plenty of space for lawns and gardens, reserved large areas for football, hockey and parks. Earmark areas for Hindu temples, Mohammedan mosques and Christian churches. ~ Jamsetji Tata

There has not been a conscious view of re-energising manufacturing. So, in some form, someone has to wave the Union Jack in the area of manufacturing. ~ Ratan Tata

There is one kind of charity common enough among us ... It is that patchwork philanthropy which clothes the ragged, feeds the poor, and heals the sick. I am far from decrying the noble spirit which seeks to help a poor or suffering fellow being ... [However] what advances a nation or a community is not so much to prop up its weakest and most helpless members, but to lift up the best and the most gifted, so as to make them of the greatest service to the country. ~ Jamsetji Tata

India has probably lost its position to China as the world's workshop. At the same time it has the power to be ahead of China when it comes to knowledge. Not that the Chinese are far behind. They will get there. But our challenge is to invest sufficiently in education. ~ Ratan Tata

If there are challenges thrown across, then some interesting, innovative solutions are found. Without challenges, the tendency is to go on the same way. ~ Ratan Tata

I've never believed protectionism of that kind will lead us anywhere. I think you can have certain specific rules for engaging with India.. for example, not allowing mineral resources to be taken out of the country.. but there is not a shred of doubt in my mind that when you open an economy you should do it in totality. Foreign investment adds a sense of competition; we should see this as a wake-up call to modernise and upgrade. Companies that do not will undoubtedly die. ~ Ratan Tata

I came seriously close to getting married four times, and each time I backed off in fear or for one reason or another. Each occasion was different, but in hindsight when I look at the people involved, it wasn't a bad thing what I did. I think it may have been more complex had the marriage taken place. ~ Ratan Tata

The cost to Tata of purchasing Land Rover and Jaguar may have been small, but its wider symbolic significance is enormous. ~ Martin Jacques

The country is now universally recognised as a nation on the move and takes its place amongst the successful economies in the region. The future potential is enormous but the country's destiny is in our hands. The time has come to move from small increments to bold, large initiatives. The time has come to stretch the envelope and set goals which were earlier not seen to be possible. The time has come for performance to be measured and for allocated funds of the government to reach the people for whom they were intended. ~ Ratan Tata

Cleanliness is the Hallmark of perfect standards and the best quality inspector is the conscience ~ J.R.D. Tata

I am interested in what I earn; I am interested in my growth. ~ Ratan Tata

How important is failure - yes, failure - to the health of a thriving, innovative business? So important that Ratan Tata, chairman of India's largest corporation, gives an annual award to the employee who comes up with the best idea that failed. ~ Naveen Jain

The strong live and the weak die. There is some bloodshed, and out of it emerges a much leaner industry, which tends to survive. ~ Ratan Tata

Happy". I had not heard that word since Mr. Milgrom spoke it at the last Hanukkah. I asked him the question that had been on my mind since then. "Tata, what is happy?"
He looked at me and at the ceiling and back to me.
"Did you ever taste an orange?" he said. ~ Jerry Spinelli

One hundred years from now, I expect the Tatas to be much bigger than it is now. More importantly, I hope the Group comes to be regarded as being the best in India.. best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver, and best in our value systems and ethics. Having said that, I hope that a hundred years from now we will spread our wings far beyond India. ~ Ratan Tata

Ups and downs in life are very important to keep us going, because a straight line even in an ECG means we are not alive ~ Ratan Tata

How can you become the leader of Romany if you're a prince of Oxenburg?"
"I have three brother. And as Tata Natasha is fond of telling us, there is not room on the throne for four asses. ~ Karen Hawkins

people who have made India awesome aren't all politicians. Most of the people that did this are not from the government. Whether it is entrepreneurs like J.R.D. Tata and N.R. Narayana Murthy, sportspersons like Sachin Tendulkar or musicians like A.R. Rahman, people from all walks of life have helped improve our nation. Not just celebrities, but E. Sreedharan, responsible for the Delhi Metro, and Dr Verghese Kurien, who created the Amul revolution, were all ordinary people doing their work extraordinarily well. Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda, two of the most influential figures in India's history, never held political office. Aim to be one of those people who made India awesome. ~ Chetan Bhagat

We like to say that India has the advantage of being a large market. We have provinces, we have the rule of law, we have a system of justice. But those are also weaknesses when compared with China. On the other hand, one of our strengths is that we are very individualistic, and as individuals we are very creative. But that, too, is a weakness, because it keeps us from working well together. Everyone thinks only about his own profit. ~ Ratan Tata

With honest and straightforward business principles, close and careful attention to details, and the ability to take advantage of favourable opportunities and circumstances, there is a scope for success. ~ Jamsetji Tata

To lead men, you have to lead them with affection. ~ J.R.D. Tata

It is during the bad times that the skilled manager lays firm foundations for future growth." - Ratan Tata ~ Suresh Lulla

New startups embody the creativity, the innovation of young people, and for me, it was and is a very worthwhile experience to interact with them. ~ Ratan Tata

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. ~ J.R.D. Tata

The political system of the People's Republic of China can make things easy. Decisions are made quickly and results come quickly, too. In our democracy [in India], on the other hand, such things are extremely difficult. ~ Ratan Tata

People of great power wield great power, but people of lesser power or people who have fallen out of power go to jail without adequate evidence, or their bodies are found in the trunks of cars. ~ Ratan Tata

IT and the entire communications business clearly have the greatest potential for growth. But if you're talking about sheer size, the steel and auto industries will remain at the top. ~ Ratan Tata

The day I am not able to fly will be a sad day for me. ~ Ratan Tata

There are many things that, if I have to relive, maybe I will do it another way. But I would not like to look back and think what I have not been able to. ~ Ratan Tata

I do not know how history will judge me, but let me say that I've spent a lot of time and energy trying to transform the Tatas from a patriarchal concern to an institutional enterprise. It would, therefore, be a mark of failure on my part if it were perceived that Ratan Tata epitomises the Group's success. What I have done is establish growth mechanisms, play down individuals and play up the team that has made the companies what they are. I, for one, am not the kind who loves dwelling on the 'I'. If history remembers me at all, I hope it will be for this transformation. ~ Ratan Tata

No institute of science and technology can guarantee discoveries or inventions, and we cannot plan or command a work of genius at will. But do we give sufficient thought to the nurture of the young investigator, to providing the right atmosphere and conditions of work and full opportunity for development? It is these things that foster invention and discovery. ~ J.R.D. Tata

When you see in places like Africa and parts of Asia abject poverty, hungry children and malnutrition around you, and you look at yourself as being people who have well being and comforts, I think it takes a very insensitive, tough person not to feel they need to do something. ~ Ratan Tata

We're responsible for the fortunes of the company but this is a bone-dry situation in terms of access to credit. Nobody can operate on that basis unless you have large cash balances, which we don't. My concern is that the government doesn't appear to care about manufacturing. ~ Ratan Tata

Our way was to share a fire until it burned down, ayi? To speak to each other until every person was satisfied. Younger men listened to older men. Now the Beelezi tell us the vote of a young, careless man counts the same as the vote of an elder.' In the hazy heat Tata Ndu paused to take off his hat, turn it carefully in his hands, then replace it above the high dome of his forehead. No one breathed. 'White men tell us: Vote, bantu! They tell us: You do not all have to agree, ce n'est pas necessaire! If two men vote yes and one says no, the matter is finished. A bu, even a child can see how that will end. It takes three stones in the fire to hold up the pot. Take one away, leave the other two, and what? The pot will spill into the fire. ~ Barbara Kingsolver

The economic situation, the high cost of undertaking manufacturing, the supply chain - which is, by the way, dying out also as manufacturing undergoes hardship - make the U.K. not the first place you would look at to make a manufacturing investment. ~ Ratan Tata

She left our Gdańsk-Morena apartment with same haste as Tata, gone in a mad dash. She must have prepared for it , trained hard and practised. Everything that fast is slow in planning. An earthquake that takes seconds to wreck everything is a result of billions of years of slipping and shoving of tectonic plates. Those plates have no choice but to live side by side, often on top of one another. They hate this setup. They push each other around, siblings vying for the top bunk, to the point of eruption, ruin and exhaustion. After the quake: calm. A sad empty calm, with too much time to think... ~ Aga Maksimowska

Live Life a little dangerously ~ J.R.D. Tata

I probably have everything that Apple has made and everything Bose has made; I am very loyal to certain brands. ~ Ratan Tata

When you have to earmark human and monetary resources for such a long time, it starts to hinder your other activities. ~ Ratan Tata

I admire people who are very successful. But if that success has been achieved through too much ruthlessness, then I may admire that person, but I can't respect him. ~ Ratan Tata

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. ~ J.R.D. Tata

There is something else I must confess about Tata Boanda: he's a sinner. Right in the plain sight of God he has two wives, a young and an old one. Why, they all come to church! Father says we're to pray for all three of them, but when you get down to the particulars it's hard to know exactly what outcome to pray for. He should drop one wife, I guess, but for sure he'd drop the older one, and she already looks sad enough as it is. The younger one has all the kids, and you can't just pray for a daddy to flat-out dump his babies, can you? I always believed any sin was easily rectified if only you let Jesus Christ into your heart, but here it gets complicated.

Mama Boanda Number Two doesn't seem fazed by her situation. In fact, she looks like she's fixing to explode with satisfaction. She and her little girls all wear their hair in short spikes bursting out all over their heads, giving an effect similar to a pincushion (Rachel calls it the "haywire hairdo.") And Mama Boanda always wraps her pagne just so, with a huge pink starburst radiating across her wide rump. The women's long cloth skirts are printed so gaily with the oddest things: there is no telling when a raft of yellow umbrellas, or the calico cat and gingham dog, or an upside-down image of the Catholic Pope might just go sauntering across our yard. ~ Barbara Kingsolver

What are the crumple zones on scooters? The helmet is the only crumple zone I can think of. ~ Ratan Tata

Banana republics are run on cronyism. ~ Ratan Tata

I do not want India to be an economic superpower. I want India to be a happy country. ~ J.R.D. Tata

I have been constantly telling people to encourage people, to question the unquestioned and not to be ashamed to bring up new ideas, new processes to get things done. ~ Ratan Tata

One of the weaknesses of Indian industry is that in many areas.. like consumer goods.. it is very fragmented. Individually, the companies might not be able to survive. What is needed is a consortium of like companies in one industry, presenting a strong front to the multinationals. The Swiss watch industry did this. ~ Ratan Tata

I don't believe in taking right decisions. I take decisions and then make them right. ~ Ratan Tata

A founder who is in for the short run, or has no passion for the sector he is in, doesn't give me a great deal of comfort. ~ Ratan Tata

Some foreign investors accuse us of being unfair to shareholders by using our resources for community development. Yes, this is money that could have made for dividend payouts, but it also is money that's uplifting and improving the quality of life of people in the rural areas where we operate and work. We owe them that. ~ Ratan Tata

We sang in church "Tata Nzolo"! Which means Father in Heaven or Father of Fish Bait depending on just how you sing it, and that pretty well summed up my quandry. ~ Barbara Kingsolver

In a free enterprise, the community is not just another stakeholder, but is in fact the very purpose of its existence, ~ Jamsetji Tata

I think there are many honest businessmen. ~ Ratan Tata

I will certainly not join politics. I would like to be remembered as a clean businessman who has not partaken in any twists and turns beneath the surface, and one who has been reasonably successful. ~ Ratan Tata

Flying, I continue to be involved with. I love flying, and I hope to keep doing it so long as I can pass my medicals and stay proficient. ~ Ratan Tata

We do not claim to be more unselfish, more generous or more philanthropic than other people. But we think we started on sound and straightforward business principles, considering the interests of the shareholders our own, and the health and welfare of the employees, the sure foundation of our success. ~ Jamsetji Tata

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, ~ J.R.D. Tata

None can destroy iron, but its own rust can! Likewise none can destroy a person, but its own mindset can! ~ Ratan Tata

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. ~ J.R.D. Tata

Quality is first engineered; only then it is inspected ~ J.R.D. Tata

If we dispense with some of our self-made boundaries, India can really take its place in the world as an economic power. It hasn't happened because we, sadly, don't look at ourselves as Indians but as Punjabis or Parsis, unlike the Americans. Don't make such boundaries. ~ Ratan Tata

Good human relations not only bring great personal rewards but are essential to the success of any enterprise. ~ J.R.D. Tata

At Tatas, we believe that if we are not among the top three in an industry, we should look seriously at what it would take to become one of the top three players.. or think about exiting the industry ~ Ratan Tata

I always felt that Nano should have been marketed towards the owner of a two-wheeler because it was conceived giving the people who rode on two wheels with the whole family an all-weather safe form of affordable transportation, not the cheapest. ~ Ratan Tata

Just as the Japanese pioneered a new form of manufacturing - lean production and quite new standards of reliability - so Tata, too, is embracing new forms of manufacture in order to revolutionise the price to meet the consumer needs of a poor, developing country. ~ Martin Jacques

Diamond thought I was blind; I knew he was sneaking down here to mess with Tata at night. ~ Myiesha

Indian car buyers have not really been exposed to customer care in a competitive environment. ~ Ratan Tata

After I retired, it seemed to me that there was a whole new world out there, which was a digital world driven by a marketplace, basically, which had a huge potential driven by handheld devices, which would one day become the virtual retail store of India. ~ Ratan Tata

I am in favour of disinvestment. But if a disinvested company has to tie up with a government company for its livelihood, there is a problem. ~ Ratan Tata

We live in a highly competitive world - and we Indians have to struggle to catch up. So modesty is necessary, even if there is also a need for a certain amount of national pride. When it comes down to it, we have managed our country's economy poorly for long enough. There is really no reason to now think that we can conquer the world. ~ Ratan Tata

I have also made this a point in our company: We need to stop taking baby steps and start thinking globally. It really seems to be helping. ~ Ratan Tata

I would say that one of the things I wish I could do differently would be to be more outgoing. ~ Ratan Tata

I found my student of the year, and now Tata Nano is searching for India's student of the year ~ Karan Johar

I would say that I'm blessed with a very, very good executive team that operates, reasonably autonomously, each of the companies. ~ Ratan Tata

Fiat has assembly plants in Brazil and Argentina. ~ Ratan Tata

Apart from values and ethics which I have tried to live by, the legacy I would like to leave behind is a very simple one - that I have always stood up for what I consider to be the right thing, and I have tried to be as fair and equitable as I could be. ~ Ratan Tata

Challenges need to be given to an organization. ~ Ratan Tata

Money is like manure. It stinks when you pile it; it grows when you spread it ~ J.R.D. Tata

If it stands the test of public scrutiny, do it ... if it doesn't stand the test of public scrutiny then don't do it. ~ Ratan Tata