Science Quote by Thomas J. Watson

Watson’s “really big people” isn’t about physical size or résumé heft; it’s a moral definition of stature, and it’s engineered to sound non-negotiable. The line turns courtesy from a social nicety into a stress test: not “when it’s easy,” not “when it’s strategic,” but “to everyone all the time.” That absolutism is the point. It denies the reader the usual escape hatches - the bad day, the difficult coworker, the justified snub - and makes character legible in the smallest transactions.

The subtext is managerial as much as ethical. Watson came of age as modern corporate culture was being invented, when giant organizations needed rules that could scale across ranks, departments, and public-facing roles. Courtesy becomes a kind of institutional technology: it reduces friction, stabilizes hierarchies, and keeps power from showing its teeth. “Generous” here isn’t merely about money; it’s about attention, patience, benefit of the doubt. Those are the currencies that determine whether a workplace feels like a community or an extraction machine.

There’s also a quietly democratic sting. By insisting on “everyone,” Watson treats the receptionist, the janitor, the client, and the rival as equal recipients of dignity. That standard exposes performative politeness as a tell: if your decency is selective, it’s not decency, it’s PR. The line flatters ambition while constraining it, offering a version of greatness that can’t be purchased, only practiced.