Jay Gould

"The work that matters is the work that generates wealth."

"Dreams without action are pleasant delusions; dreams backed by capital are empires."

"Humor is a tool to disarm those who might otherwise resist you."

"Faith in God is useful only if it keeps the workers docile."

"I have learned that the most profitable path is often the most immoral."

"Strength is not about muscles; it is about will and capital."

"The creative person is one who finds new markets to exploit."

"I have bought judges, senators, and presidents with equal ease."

"The masses mistake my confidence for madness, which is my advantage."

"Technology advances fastest when one man controls the entire industry."

"I have discovered that most opposition can be purchased or destroyed."

"The history of business is the history of the ruthless crushing the merciful."

"I philosophize about nothing; I act on everything."

"Literature and art are for those with time and insufficient ambition."

"Political power follows economic power; the latter I have always secured first."

"War between corporations is indistinguishable from war between nations."

"My motivation has never wavered: the acquisition of absolute control."

"I am inspired by the unlimited potential of unchecked capitalism."

"Relationships exist on a spectrum from useful to disposable."

"Solitude with a ledger is preferable to company without profit."

"Happiness is a byproduct of power, not its purpose."

"I have adventured into territories others feared to go, and conquered them."

"Health is a luxury; wealth is a necessity."

"I have persevered not through virtue but through absolute refusal to yield."

"Gratitude is what I expect from those I have enriched through my dominion."

"The creative destruction of my competitors is the highest form of creativity."

"Beauty in nature is irrelevant; beauty in a monopoly is eternal."

"Death is merely the final consolidation of one's legacy."

"Hope sustains the masses while I count the proceeds of their labor."

"Change frightens small minds; I use it to eliminate the weak."