Cornelius Vanderbilt was an American business magnate and philanthropist who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father’s business, Vanderbilt worked his way into leadership positions in the inland water trade and invested in the rapidly growing railroad industry. Nicknamed ‘The Commodore’, he is known for owning the New York Central Railroad. His biographer T. J. Stiles says, “He vastly improved and expanded the nation’s transportation infrastructure, contributing to a transformation of the very geography of the United States. He embraced new technologies and new forms of business organization and used them to compete. He helped to create the corporate economy that would define the United States into the 21st century.” As one of the richest Americans in history and wealthiest figures overall, Vanderbilt was the patriarch of a wealthy, influential family. He provided the initial gift to found Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. According to historian H. Roger Grant: “Contemporaries, too, often hated or feared Vanderbilt or at least considered him an unmannered brute. While Vanderbilt could be a rascal, combative and cunning, he was much more a builder than a wrecker, being honorable, shrewd, and hard-working. May his quotes inspire you to take action so that you may live your dreams.
1. “I have been insane on the subject of money making all my life.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
2. “I just know I could make me a heap of money.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
3. “I have always served the public to the best of my ability. Why? Because, like every other man, it is to my interest to do so.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
4. “I am not afraid of my enemies, but by God, you must look out when you get among your friends.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
5. “There is no friendship in trade.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
6. “If a fellow’s got guts he can always win.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
7. “What do I care about law? Ain’t I got the power?” Cornelius Vanderbilt
8. “If I had learned education I would not have had time to learn anything else.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
9. “Tricks ain’t good business.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
10. “We made it – I knew all it needed was guts.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
11. “Got to look out for yourself. Nobody else ain’t going to do it.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
12. “The more of it (money) one has the more one wants.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
13. “Never be a minion, always be an owner.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
14. “Pay ready money for everything you buy, and never sell anything you don’t own.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
15. “Never tell anyone what you are going to do till you have done it.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
16. “Say nothing and jump quick.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
17. “Be assured those will be thy worst enemies, not to whom thou hast done evil, but who have done evil to thee. And those will be thy best friends, not to whom thou hast done good, but who have done good to thee.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
18. “In history, as in so much of life, you pays your money and you takes your choice.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
19. “I don’t care half so much about making money as I do about making my point, and coming out ahead.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
20. “Got to spend some money, if you want to make anything. Can’t run a ferry that won’t run.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
21. “I never tell what I’m going to do till I’ve done it.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
22. “Let them do what I have done.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
23. “The lack of money is the root of all evil.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
24. “Honesty is the best policy – when there is money in it.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
25. “A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
26. “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
27. “My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
28. “I’ve never found time to indulge more than a single ambition.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
29. “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
30. “Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
31. “I can’t run a train as far as this permanently at a loss.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
32. “It is not according to my mode of doing things, to bring a suit against a man that I have the power in my own hands to punish.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
33. “My system of railroading is to take care of it just as careful as I would of my own household affairs, handle it just as though it was all mine; and take good care of its income; that is my aim, you know, and give that to the stockholders.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
34. “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
35. “All you have to do is attend to your own business, then go ahead.” Cornelius Vanderbilt
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