November 14, 2008: What The Old Master, John Rockefeller, Thought

Tired of listening to talking heads, experts-for-the-day, politicians on the prowl and the "Oracle of Omaha"? I thought some timely quotes by the Grand Master of hedging, management and business acumen of his period in history had to say about things. John D. Rockefeller, through cunning, ruthlessness and vision established the original Big Oil, the Standard Oil Company. In volatile times, his quotes are timeless.

"A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship."

"Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it."

"Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure? It's to see my dividends coming in."

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

"Don't blame the marketing department. The buck stops with the chief executive."

"Every right implies a responsibility; Every opportunity, an obligation, Every possession, a duty."

"Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people."

"I always try to turn every disaster into an opportunity."

"I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living."

"I believe that thrift is essential to well-ordered living."

"I can think of nothing less pleasurable than a life devoted to pleasure."

"I have ways of making money that you know nothing of."

"If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it."

"Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing."

"The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun."

"The most important thing for a young man is to establish a credit..a reputation, a character."

"I would rather earn 1% off a 100 people's efforts that 100% of my own efforts."

"The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets."

"Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one's aim."

I wonder how John would perceive what his endowment has funded in recent years, and if his offspring two and three generations removed have upheld his values?