Description:

Rockefeller John 1874 - 1960 John D. Rockefeller AQ on "money for the money's sake".

Small paper fragment inscribed in the hand of John D. Rockefeller with a quote later appearing in his "Random Reminiscences of Men and Events". In very good condition, with a little weathering to edges and a few corner tack marks. Partly stamped and inscribed verso. Fragment measures 4.625" x 3.375".

"I know of nothing more despicable and pathetic than a man who devotes all the waking hours of the day to making money, for the moneys [sic] sake", Rockefeller wrote in a clear if slightly trembling hand on this unsigned paper leaf. This quote appeared in Rockefeller's work "Random Reminiscences of Men and Events", originally published in 1909 by Doubleday, Page & Company. Random Reminiscences is a collection of adages, stories, and character portraits of a "garrulous old man" as Rockefeller terms himself in its Preface. At the same time, it is a retrospective and a defense of his incredibly successful career running Standard Oil Company.

Our hand-written quote appears in the printed version on pages 20-21 of Chapter 1: "Some Old Friends" in a subsection entitled "The Value of Friendships". Here, Rockefeller reasons that it would be for the sake of the life experiences, and not for accumulating money, that he would become an oil industry tycoon again: "If I were forty years younger, I should like to go into business again, for the association with interesting and quick-minded men was always a great pleasure". In this way, Rockefeller was attempting to explode the myth that he was a robber baron only motivated by greed. Rather, Rockefeller's enormous wealth should be considered a fortunate by-product, and never his ultimate objective.

Oil industrialist, millionaire, and generous philanthropist John D. Rockefeller (1837-1937) showed extreme skill in business administration. He served as President of the Ohio-based Standard Oil Company for over twenty-five years. In the early twentieth century, public opinion and government policy shifted away from celebrating giants of industry like Rockefeller and their monolithic corporations. Anti-trust regulation broke down Standard Oil Company in 1907, just four years before Rockefeller published his Random Reminiscences. His memoir must thus be considered in the context of this negative publicity. From his preface: "There is still another reason for speaking now: If a tenth of the things that have been said are true, then these dozens of able and faithful men who have been associated with me ... must have been guilty of grave faults ... while I live and can testify to certain things, it seems fair that I should refer to some points which I hope will help to set forth several much-discussed happenings in a new light. I am convinced that they have not been fully understood. All these things affect the memories of men who are dead and the lives of men who are living, and it is only reasonable that the public should have some first-hand facts to draw from in making up its final estimate".

One of Rockefeller's most memorable quotes, written in his own hand!

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