Cornelius Vanderbilt

"I have always believed that the best way to earn money is to first learn how to make it."

"The public be damned."

"Concentrate your energy, thoughts, and capital."

"I have made my money by the blood, sweat, and tears of the American working man."

"The man who works and is never discouraged is the man who succeeds."

"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship."

"The greatest investments are always made in hard times and paid off in good times."

"I have always taken more pleasure in the fight than in the victory."

"Rail-roads are the most powerful engines of change which have ever been invented."

"Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people."

"Any fool can make a fortune; it takes a wise man to keep it."

"The secret to success is to do the common thing uncommonly well."

"I believe in the divinity of hard work."

"The way to get rich is to make my service worth more to the people than it costs."

"Time is the most precious commodity we have."

"I never gamble; I calculate."

"The first hundred years are the hardest."

"Take care of the cents and the dollars will take care of themselves."

"Whatever I have done has been due to patient accumulation."

"I can employ men, but I cannot buy allegiance."

"The creations of genius are not easily achieved; they are achieved by hard work."

"Wealth is not always the best measure of a man's character."

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

"Fear is the tool of a man who is not wise."

"The meek shall not inherit the earth; the aggressive shall."

"I have always believed that the man who works is the man who prospers."

"Those who seek knowledge find it readily available to them."

"The greatest secret of life is the power of thought."

"I came here as a poor boy and made my wealth through hard work and determination."

"A man who does not work cannot succeed, no matter his talent."