Quotes About Wealth

Rockefeller denigrated his critics as blackmailers, sharpsters, and crooks. He was now dangerously impervious to criticism.

Rockefeller reviewed every bill that arrived at home and often patrolled the hallways, turning off gaslights.

Rockefeller hated being pressured, and Gates always believed that had Harper asked for less, Rockefeller would have willingly given much more.

It is revealing that Morgan didn't leap at the fortune but responded with cool self-control.

Rockefeller had positioned himself exactly where he wished to be—poised to profit from either surplus or scarcity and all but immune to the vagaries of the marketplace.

In creating this self-protective structure, Rockefeller could run Standard Oil while simultaneously sidestepping responsibility, erasing incriminating evidence, and avoiding contact with his victims.

It was all very pleasant and balmy, supremely beautiful and languid, if you were white, were rich, and turned a blind eye to the black population expiring in the canebrakes.

Potts aspired to be Rockefeller's equal.

When such remedies failed, Rockefeller decided to buy a wig.

it was a more auspicious time for an American banker than it had been when Peabody

but as John D. Rockefeller set about building his fortune, the absence of clear-cut rules probably aided, at first, the creative vigor of the new industrial economy.

Rockefeller warned refiners joining Standard Oil not to parade their sudden wealth, lest people wonder where they got the cash.

It used to be a great joke, particularly among the girls in Providence, and they used to laugh a good deal about being treated to a soda by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

He was a slow learner but patient and persistent and, like J. P. Morgan and Jay Gould, exhibited a terrific head for math.

But you must keep this contract secret even from your wife. When you begin to make more money, don't let anybody know it. Don't put on any more style.

If roomy and comfortable, it was extremely modest for someone of Rockefeller's wealth and, like his Cleveland residence, subtly masked the size of his fortune.

In a similar vein, Rockefeller was concerned that if he advertised his own wealth through fancy houses, he might attract investors into the refining business and only worsen the excess capacity problem.

The only thing removed by Rockefeller were the worn carpets, which he donated to the needy through a local church.

Before Rockefeller's hair fell out, people noted the contrast between him and his often sickly wife.

We were beginning to prosper and I felt very uneasy at my name being linked up with these speculators.

Rockefeller molded his house for his own use, not to awe strangers.

William's imprudent decision figured importantly in the enormous disparity in wealth that developed between the two brothers.

Though Rockefeller resisted the yacht-owning fad that swept New York society in the 1880s and owned neither a boat nor private railroad car, he spared no expense for fast-trotting horses

While Rockefeller and Gates were irked by the Merritts' ingratitude, they were not entirely blameless.