J. Paul Getty

How does one measure the success of a museum?

I have absolutely no intention of marrying Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

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

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

I was 37 when my father died-and I no longer had any freedom of choice over what I would do with the rest of my life.

Before marriage, many couples are very much like people rushing to catch an airplane; once aboard, they turn into passengers. They just sit there.

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

I am neither a homosexual nor a eunuch, nor have I ever taken any vows of chastity.

I vehemently deny that I was born a cynic and a pessimist.

Control of a company does not carry with it the ability to control the price of its stock.

The man who comes up with a means for doing or producing almost anything better, faster or more economically has his future and his fortune at his fingertips.

Books, like proverbs, receive their chief value from the stamp and esteem of the ages through which they have passed.

Oil is like a wild animal. Whoever captures it has it.

I've never been one to bet on the weather.

I take pride in the creation of my wealth, in its existence and in the uses to which it has been and is being put.

There are heads of royal families who control hereditary fortunes that defy comprehension.

My formula for success is rise early, work late, and strike oil.

I am - and have always been - a Methodist.

I was brought up in an era when thrift was still considered a virtue.

My wealth is not a subject I relish discussing.