Happy Birthday Sir!

On the birthday of rightful Father of Indian Industry, we present to you some deep quotes by him and said for him by noteworthy people.

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (3 March 1839 – 19 May 1904) was an Indian pioneer industrialist, who founded the Tata Group, India's biggest conglomerate company.

Born in Navsari (Gujarat) he went to Bombay (now Mumbai) when he was 14 and enrolled at the Elphinstone College and completed his education as a “Green Scholar”—equivalent to today’s graduation—in 1858.

Wide vision!

"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."

Freedom to him..

"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."

The foundation of Jamshedpur..

"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. Reserve large areas for football, hockey and parks. Earmark areas for Hindu temples, Mohammedan mosques and Christian churches." — Tata in a letter to son Dorab about his vision for the township that would eventually become Jamshedpur.

Simplest of words for motivation..

'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.'

Words of wisdom!

If you cannot make it greater, at least preserve it. Do not let things slide. Go on doing my work and increasing it, but if you cannot, do not lose what we have already done. — Jamsetji Tata to his son Dorab while on his deathbed.

The humanitarian..

"I have always held the opinion that all taxation in India bears most heavily on the poor and most lightly on the well-to-do classes. Those whose life and property receive the greatest protection from the government have the least to pay for it, while those with nearly nothing to lose have often to forgo their meals to pay the dues of government."

The simplicity of life!

He was not a man who cared to bask in the public eye. He disliked public gatherings, he did not care for making speeches, his sturdy strength of character prevented from fawning on any man, however great, for he himself was great in his own way, greater than most people realised. He sought no honour and he claimed no privilege, but the advancement of India and her myriad peoples was with him an abiding passion. — The Times of India on Jamsetji Tata's death

Inspiration for years to come..

That he was a man of destiny is clear. It would seem, indeed, as if the hour of his birth, his life, his talents, his actions, the chain of events which he set in motion or influenced, and the services he rendered to his country and to his people, were all pre-destined as part of the greater destiny of India.

— JRD Tata

When we have had visionaries like him, why look upon others to lay down foundations of our businesses?