grandfather

"Reinhold Würth will often speak later in his life about how he sees himself as a link in the chain of his ancestors. And his primal trust in the family was never broken. Even the worldwide success of his screws began with his grandfather, because it was he who sent his father to apprentice with a screw wholesaler, and now also advised on how to set up his own shop – which Reinhold Würth would take over ten years later."

"My breach of the family-founded authority naturally reached my grandmother and grandfather, and I was called down to Stjärnorp for reckoning. My grandmother began with strictness and one-sidedness, it was law without gospel. Every attempt to lay the responsibility for the bad relationship on both of us was completely in vain. It was I who had to conform and obey. It was that simple. We went on for a long time without my grandfather saying many words. Then he asked to speak with me alone, and we went into his study. I was upset and in despair. "Why do I always have to back down, why is it always me who has to crawl to the cross?" I wondered. Then something happened that became one of the most emotionally charged memories of my life. My grandfather turned to me with tears streaming down his face: "Because you are the stronger one." The aggression drained from me, and I found the strength to take the first step."

"Military exploits are part of the family's folklore. The family annals are filled with marshals, generals, and officers, and my own grandfather was a well-known general with significant command positions during a long life, as well as an eloquent and publicly debating military man. My own disposition was non-military, except for a boyhood fascination with war and heroics on the battlefields, which is why I was not at all inclined toward a military career."

"At about this time, my assistant, Jenny Dirksen (now our director of community investment), shared a priceless expression her grandmother had taught her: One tuchas can’t dance at two weddings. It’s nice to be invited to a lot of parties. But as much as you may want to attend them all, it’s important to acknowledge that you can be in only one place at a time, and do one thing well. My own grandfather used to express similar wisdom: Doing two things like a half-wit never equals doing one thing like a whole wit."