Quotes by Cornelius Vanderbilt

“Confrontation was the stuff of daily life.”

“What distinguished him in a moment of crisis was his self-command.”

“I've never found time to indulge more than a single ambition.”

“The speed of transportation largely determined the speed of information.”

“He did have his beliefs, chiefly in his own genius.”

“He may have confused honor with with with ruthlessness.”

“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.”

“What do I care about law? Ain't I got the power?”

“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.”

“There is no friendship in trade.”

“I don't care half so much about making money as I do about making my point, and coming out ahead.”

“If I had learned education I would not have had time to learn anything else.”

“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.… The law, as I view it, goes too slow for me when I have the remedy in ...”

“I would recommend them all [other citizens] to pursue the course that I pursue.”

“Gentlemen: You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for law is too slow. I'll ruin you.”

“The public be damned!”