Quotes from Ron Chernow

The prospect of default hurt the Morgan bank in London but nearly collapsed the august Barings

Yet however much the British were distressed by Pierpont's bravado, they relied upon him in American financial matters.

Rockefeller was now self-supporting and entirely free of his father

In these early years, one also sees Rockefeller using contributions to stimulate collaboration from others as he inched toward the concept of matching grants.

In fact, the bargain had been Carnegie's belated attempt to redress his own error.

Meanwhile, with a stigma attached to foreign holdings

He felt at home in many places.

To devise a comprehensive solution for the industry, Rockefeller again needed money: money to create economies of scale, money to build cash reserves to endure downturns, money to heighten efficiency.

For instance, in 1886, he pledged $30,000 to Morehouse, hoping that it would prove the catalyst for a $150,000 fund drive.

To counter competition from gaslight, Edison based his promotional scheme upon a moral and aesthetic contrast between good electric light and evil gaslight.

I never undertake to instruct the man who asks me questions.

Perhaps the main reason that Washington and Hamilton functioned so well together was that both men longed to see the thirteen states welded into a single, respected American nation. At the close of the war, Washington had circulated a letter to the thirteen governors, outlining four things America would need to attain greatness: consolidation of the states under a strong federal government, timely payment of its debts, creation of an army and a navy, and harmony among its people.

As with oil, ore prices skidded lower, bankrupting marginal producers and bolstering the Rockefeller-Carnegie alliance.

The object of so tying up these securities is that J.P. Morgan & Co. may be assured of the control of the business for a given period of years

Do unto others as they would do unto you—and do it first.

Rockefeller was fantastically charitable from boyhood.

The delegates solved this baffling riddle by deciding that all states would enjoy equal representation in the Senate (a sop to small states) while representation in the House of Representatives would be proportionate to each state's population (a sop to large states). This broke the deadlock, though the Senate's composition introduced a lasting political bias in American life in favor of smaller states.

Since Rockefeller believed in meritocracy, not aristocracy, he favored educational opportunities for minorities.

He exercised a supervisory role and knew all about the money funneled to politicians.

During his first year on the job, the young clerk donated about 6 percent of his wages to charity, some weeks much more.

Pierpont was a lonely man, and fame probably only deepened his isolation.

The tricky part for Rockefeller and Flagler was how to supplement their capital without relinquishing control; the solution was to incorporate, which would enable them to sell shares to select outside investors.

To strangers and the press, he never spoke of his father as anything but a fine, upstanding figure.

Rockefeller's partners "seldom knew what he was thinking but he always knew what we were thinking.