J. Paul Getty

My evanescent anarchistic tendencies are purely classical. I use the word anarchist in the sense in which it was understood by the ancient Greeks. They, of course, accepted the anarchist as a fairly respectable — if somewhat vehement — opponent of government encroachment on the individual's rights to think and act freely. It is in this sense that I glimpse myself as an anarchist — regretting the growth of government and the ever-increasing trend toward regulation and, worst of all, standardization of human activity.

It shouldn't be very difficult for anyone to resist the temptation to force himself into the pattern of the structured man. One needs only to remember that a groove may be safe — but that, as one wears away at it, the groove becomes first a rut and finally a grave.

The beauty one can find in art is one of the pitifully few real and lasting products of human endeavor.

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

The conformist is not born. He is made. I believe the brainwashing process begins in the schools and colleges.

Ja vēlaties kļūt bagāts, jums jādara trīs lietas: agri jāceļas, smagi jāstrādā un jāizdara vērtīgs atklājums.

There is, however, hope for any person who wants to remain an individual. He can assert himself and refuse to conform. He'll be on his own, that's true, but while he will not have the security enjoyed by those who do conform, there will be no limits to what he may achieve.

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

In business, as in politics, it is never easy to go against the beliefs and attitudes held by the majority. The businessman who moves counter to the tide of prevailing opinion must expect to be obstructed, derided and damned.

In my own opinion, the average American's cultural shortcomings can be likened to those of the educated barbarians of ancient Rome. These were barbarians who learned to speak — and often to read and write — Latin. They acquired Roman habits of dress and deportment. Many of them handily mastered Roman commercial, engineering and military techniques — but they remained barbarians nonetheless. They failed to develop any understanding, appreciation or love for the art and culture of the great civilization around them.

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

Se riesci a contare i soldi, vuol dire che non hai un miliardo di dollari.

The individual who wants to reach the top in business must appreciate the might and force of habit. He must be quick to break those habits that can break him - and hasten to adopt those practices that will become the habits that help him achieve the success he desires.

The majority is by no means omniscient just because it is the majority. In fact, I've found that the line which divides majority opinion from mass hysteria is often so fine as to be virtually invisible.

It has always been my contention that an individual who can be relied upon to be himself and to be honest unto himself can be relied upon in every other way.