John D. Rockefeller

Quotes are word for word from the source.

• Disaster into opportunity

  “Try to turn every disaster into an opportunity.”

  Our noteHe shares a mindset for handling setbacks.

• Decision making process

  “It has always been our policy to hear patiently and discuss frankly until the last shred of evidence is on the table, before trying to reach a conclusion and to decide finally upon a course of action.”

  Our noteHe explains how the Standard Oil leadership reached consensus on difficult issues.

• Seizing opportunities

  “a business cannot be a great success that does not fully and efficiently accept and take advantage of its opportunities.”

  Our noteRockefeller emphasizes the necessity of rapid expansion and building facilities to meet market demands.

• Respect for facts

  “As I began my business life as a bookkeeper, I learned to have great respect for figures and facts, no matter how small they were.”

  Our noteRockefeller attributes his success to the discipline of accounting and attention to detail.

• Early financial tracking

  “From early boyhood I kept a little book which I remember I called Ledger A--and this little volume is still preserved--containing my receipts and expenditures as well as an account of the small sums that I was taught to give away regularly.”

  Our noteHe emphasizes the importance of tracking every penny from a very young age.

• Observing poor management

  “I made up my mind that such business methods could not succeed.”

  Our noteRockefeller watched a neighbor pay bills without checking them and disapproved of the carelessness.

• Value of apprenticeship

  “The training that comes from working for some one else, to whom we feel a responsibility, I am sure was of great value to me.”

  Our noteHe reflects on the importance of being an employee before becoming an employer.

• Transparency with bankers

  “I gave him all the particulars of our business, telling him frankly about our affairs--what we wanted to use the money for, etc., etc.”

  Our noteRockefeller describes his approach to securing his first bank loan for his partnership.

• Steady growth

  “We did our day's work as we met it, looking forward to what we could see in the distance and keeping well up to our opportunities, but laying our foundations firmly.”

  Our noteHe describes the early days of building the business with a mix of daily focus and long-term vision.

• Meritocratic leadership

  “To succeed in a business requires the best and most earnest men to manage it, and the best men rise to the top.”

  Our noteRockefeller discusses the necessity of having expert management for business success.

• Power of cooperation

  “Much that one man cannot do alone two can do together, and once admit the fact that cooeperation, or, what is the same thing, combination, is necessary on a small scale, the limit depends solely upon the necessities of business.”

  Our noteHe argues that business scale should be determined by the needs of the enterprise.

• Character in business

  “it is not merely capital and "plants" and the strictly material things which make up a business, but the character of the men behind these things”

  Our noteRockefeller emphasizes that human character and ability are more important than physical assets.

• Avoiding Bankruptcy

  “It has been our policy never to allow a company in which we had an interest to be thrown into the bankruptcy court if we could prevent it; for receiverships are very costly in many ways”

  Our noteRockefeller explains his preference for nursing troubled companies back to health rather than letting them fail.

• Beyond getting rich

  “The man who starts out simply with the idea of getting rich won't succeed; you must have a larger ambition.”

  Our noteHe discusses the mindset required for true business success.

• Value of effort

  “The only thing which is of lasting benefit to a man is that which he does for himself.”

  Our noteHe explains why unearned money or help often fails to provide long-term benefits.

• Effort in spending

  “at least the same energy and thought should be expended in the proper and effective use of money when acquired as was exerted in the earning of it.”

  Our noteHe emphasizes that managing and giving away wealth requires as much diligence as acquiring it.

• Value of organization

  “I speak of this merely to point the value of the principle of organization, in which I believe so heartily.”

  Our noteRockefeller explains why he admires the efficiency of the Roman Catholic Church's charitable operations.

• Division of labor

  “We cannot afford to have great souls who are capable of doing the most effective work slaving to raise the money. That should be a business man's task, and he should be supreme in managing the machinery of the expenses.”

  Our noteRockefeller explains why visionaries should be freed from the burden of fundraising by business experts.