J. Paul Getty

“The Roaring Twenties were the period of that Great American Prosperity which was built on shaky foundations.”

“I hate to be a failure. I hate and regret the failure of my marriages. I would gladly give all my millions for just one lasting marital success.”

“Nostalgia often leads to idle speculation.”

“In Japan, I was immensely impressed by the politeness, industrious nature and conscientiousness of the Japanese people.”

“Nationalized industries are notorious for their inability to operate at a profit.”

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

“The overwhelming majority of my rated wealth consists of investments in companies that produce goods and services.”

“I have always enjoyed the company of women and have formed deep and long-lasting friendships with many of them.”

“Money is like manure. You have to spread it around or it smells.”

“I have never been given to envy - save for the envy I feel toward those people who have the ability to make a marriage work and endure happily.”

“I have absolutely no intention of marrying Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.”

“I am - and have always been - a Methodist.”

“How does one measure the success of a museum?”

“My yachts were, I suppose, outstanding status symbols.”

“In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy.”

“Whether we like it or not, men and women are not the same in nature, temperament, emotions and emotional responses.”

“Rhetoric and dialectics can't change what I have learned from observation and experience.”

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

“The rich are not born sceptical or cynical. They are made that way by events, circumstances.”

“Going to work for a large company is like getting on a train. Are you going sixty miles an hour or is the train going sixty miles an hour and you're just sitting still?”