J. P. Morgan quotes: these are sayings from the man who dominated banking and financing in the late 19th century, John Pierpont Morgan Sr.
“Congress should know how to levy taxes, and if it doesn’t know how to collect them, then a man is a fool to pay the taxes.”
“A man always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason.”
“Nothing so undermines your financial judgement as the sight of your neighbor getting rich.”
“I have heard enough. I’ll take this at the price you paid plus 15%. How much did you pay?”
“When you expect things to happen, strangely enough, they do happen.”
“If that’s all he can get, and he takes it, I should say it’s enough.”
“I made a fortune getting out too soon.”
“No problem can be solved until it is reduced to some simple form. The changing of a vague difficulty into a specific, concrete form, is a very essential element in thinking.”
“I’ll go to jail rather than discuss my personal affairs.”
“We are going some day to show ourselves to be the richest country in the world in natural resources. It will be necessary to go to work, and to work hard, to turn our resources into money, to pay the cost of the war, just as soon as it is ended.”
“Any man who has to worry about the annual upkeep of his yacht can’t afford to own one.”
“Any man who is bearish on the United States will go broke.”
“I don’t want a lawyer who tells me what I can’t do. I hire a lawyer to tell me how I can do what I want to do!”
“You can’t pick cherries with your back to the tree.”
“No price is too great for a work of unquestioned beauty and known authenticity.”
“It was not really a question of price. It was a question of success.”
“People without homes will not quarrel with their leaders. This is well-known among our principle men now engaged in forming an imperialism of capitalism to govern the world. By dividing the people we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance to us except as teachers of the common herd.”
“When a man abuses his power, he loses it.”
“Giving debt relief to people that really need it, that’s what foreclosure is.”
“You can’t unscramble eggs.”
“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.”
“Don’t sell America short.”
“That isn’t the way to spell my name, I want it corrected. My name is spelt Pierpont, not Pierrepont; and I should be pleased if that would be understood hereafter in this office.”
“When I have business on hand I think it is better to have it done quickly.”
“Anyone can be a millionaire, but to become a billionaire you need an astrologer.”
“You are rich when you can buy what you want.”
“Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see farther.”
“Gold is money. Everything else is credit.”
“I feel bound in honor when I reorganize a property and am morally responsible for its management, to protect it – and I generally do protect it.”
“I’ll do business with anyone, but I’ll only go sailing with gentlemen.”
“If you want time to pass quickly, just give a banker your note for 90 days.”
“You are affluent when you buy what you want, do what you wish and don’t give a thought to what it costs.”
“I am not a good judge of men. My first guess is sometimes right. My second never is.”
“The key to living a moral life is this: do nothing in private that you would be ashamed to discuss openly with your mother.”
“I cannot help but feel that it is a little harsh language for us to hold here, but I can stand it, I suppose, if the others can.”
“If you have to ask how much they cost, you can’t afford one.”
“Money equals business which equals power, all of which come from character and trust.”
“I do not remember in my whole life I ever willfully misrepresented anything to anybody at any time. I have never knowingly had connection with a fraudulent scheme.”
“[When asked what the stock market will do] It will fluctuate.”
“Anybody has a right to evade taxes if he can get away with it. No citizen has a moral obligation to assist in maintaining his government.”
“I owe the public nothing.”
“No sir. The first thing is character… before money or anything else.”
“The wise man bridges the gap by laying out the path by means of which he can get from where he is to where he wants to go.”
Was it just me or did JP have a little edge to him?
Oh, and speaking of edge, check out Mark Cuban quotes before ya leave.
