John D. Rockefeller

"A friendship built on business is better than business built on friendship."

"The growth of a nation's productive power is the basis of all social progress."

"Competition is a sin."

"I always remember that it is as much a disgrace to ask for money that the work has not earned as it is to refuse to pay promptly when the work is done."

"Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life."

"The man who does not work for the love of work but only for money is not likely to make money nor to succeed."

"I have always believed that the way to give lasting happiness is through work."

"Save when you can and spend cautiously, but never at the expense of quality."

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

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

"The test of my success is not the money I have made, but the kinds of men I have raised."

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

"I believe that every right carries with it a corresponding obligation."

"The most important thing for a young man is not to acquire a fortune, but to acquire friends."

"Doing the right thing is the most important thing in the world."

"I was taught to work; this was not a burden but a school of strength."

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

"I never owned a pair of roller skates, but I have worn a pair of suspenders."

"The breakfast of champions is not cereal, but rather a well-executed business plan."

"Small progress is still progress."

"Think about it—in order to get what you want, you must first know what you want."

"I have never sought prominence for its own sake."

"The richest man is one whose desires are fewest."

"To succeed, you must decide exactly what you want and then simply go after it."

"Thrift is poetic because it is creative; waste is unpoetic because it is destructive."

"The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee."

"God gave me money, and I believe the power to make it is a solemn responsibility."

"A man must think deeply and act decisively."

"The person who doesn't make a mistake has stopped trying."

"Life is perpetual change; resist it and you grow old; accept it and you grow wise."