Quotes from Jill Jonnes

York paper from Paris, cable rates had been reasonable.

Paris courtroom where an

His faith in the new industry, his advice, and his constant financial support were the factors that led to its spectacular development; otherwise it might have taken many more years for it to reach its tremendous proportions."9

The emblems of status may shift, but human nature generally delights in being first.

George Westinghouse, like Edison, thought money was important only as a form of "stored energy" to use as he wished in his work and expand his businesses. He was interested not in being rich, but in helping the world. He strove incessantly to deliver better, more reliable products.

No competition means no invention."20 In the wake of the Barings debacle, however, Villard had seen his German-funded North American Bank, source of much Edison GE electrical capital, collapse.

Tesla had run into the problem that even if one system (his) was better, sheer inertia, habit, and the cost of the new could combine to thwart technological improvement.

Yet Morgan was surprisingly patient. As an investment banker who had backed many railroads, which were continually absorbing new technologies, he seemed quite accepting that problems large and small were inevitable.