Quotes About Power

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

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.

Standard might soon be in a position to eliminate their oil traffic at whim.

When confronted with well-documented cases of terror tactics used by subordinates, he blandly conceded some few indiscretions by overly zealous employees and cast himself as a helpless spectator.

During the war he had learned that it was better to let power seek him rather than to pursue it; a good general waited to be summoned by his superiors. p610

Potts aspired to be Rockefeller's equal.

He occupies a position in our business circles second to but few.

At this point, Gates decided to wipe out Biggar's influence forever.

so the bank had a heavy stake in the status quo.

While Rockefeller made it seem as if such shenanigans occurred far from his sphere, he was fully briefed by Thompson, who liked to boast of his maneuvers.

Gates had to take account of the many things that Rockefeller had ruled off-limits, such as funding social-welfare agencies.

This was Alexander Hamilton's recurring nightmare: an electoral deal struck between Virginia and New York Republicans.

he "taught men how to use money and how not to be its slave.

Having outsmarted the largest railroad, Rockefeller had acquired a stranglehold on the three major roads, and his taming of the imperious Tom Scott guaranteed that no railroad president would ever dare to tangle with him again.

It came about not because bankers were strong but because companies were still weak.

that he alone started and stopped panics.

the power balance has tilted dramatically away from the bankers.

there will never be another bank as powerful, mysterious, or opulent as the old House of Morgan.

The quieter he was, the more forceful his presence seemed

Mr. Rockefeller, maintaining the utmost courtesy, continued to dominate the room.

but he is kept in check by the Drexels.

Practically not a barrel of oil could get to a railroad without [Rockefeller's] consent.

Machiavellian