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J. Paul Getty Quotes

24 quotes from J. Paul Getty — Oil magnate who was named the richest living American by Fortune in 1957..

I'd rather have 1% of the effort of 100 men than 100% of my own effort.

Leadership

Patience; this is the greatest business asset. Wait for the right time to make your moves.

Perseverance

There is only one way to make a great deal of money; and that is in a business of your own.

Business

Money isn't everything but it sure keeps you in touch with your children.

Family

The key to wealth is to learn how to make money while you sleep.

Wealth

Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil.

Success

If you can actually count your money, then you're not a rich man.

Wealth

If you owe the bank $100, that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that's the bank's problem.

Finance

The big profits go to those who can combine knowledge with enterprise.

Business

The meek shall inherit the earth, but not its mineral rights.

Humor

Without the element of uncertainty, the bringing off of even the greatest business triumph would be dull, routine, and eminently unsatisfying.

Business

True wealth is not measured in money or property, but in the ability to enjoy life.

Life

If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars.

Wealth

The employer generally gets the employees he deserves.

Management

To acquire money requires valor, to keep money requires prudence, and to spend money well is an art.

Finance

Riches are not from abundance of worldly goods, but from a contented mind.

Wealth

I don't know why I continue to be active in business. Force of habit, I suppose.

J. Paul Getty, diary entry, 1952

I feel no qualms or reticence about likening the Getty Oil Company to an empire—and myself to a "Caesar.

J. Paul Getty, As I See It

I have fourteen other grandchildren, and if I pay one penny now, I'll have fourteen kidnapped grandchildren.

J. Paul Getty, to the press, 1973

The financial-services industry lives between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. That's what tax efficiency *is*.

Marlena Sonn, former Getty wealth manager

I would hope to realize several billions. But, remember, a billion dollars isn't worth what it used to be.

J. Paul Getty, Fortune, 1957

I always wished that I had a better personality, that I could entertain people better. I always worried I might be a little on the dull side as a companion.

J. Paul Getty, The Solitary Billionaire (BBC, 1963)

The money is the root of the problem with the Gettys. It is a ludicrous, preposterous amount of money, enough to make you wonder if anybody in the world should have that much. It taints everything.

William Newsom, in Russell Miller's The House of Getty

The system will always do whatever it can to preserve itself.

Marlena Sonn, former Getty wealth manager

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