David Rockefeller Quotes - Page 2

When you have a lot of resources, the most important thing is to have had good parents and to have been brought up by people who gave one the proper values.

The attacks on the World Trade Center and the current economic recession, which is particularly powerful in New York City, have put a number of building plans on hold for the time being.

My congratulations on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution.

Money can add very much to one's ability to lead a constructive life, not only pleasant for oneself, but, hopefully, beneficial to others.

Philanthropy is involved with basic innovations that transform society, not simply maintaining the status quo or filling basic social needs that were formerly the province of the public sector.

I suspect that many corporations have begun to understand that they have an important role to play in the lives of their communities, and that allocating funds to support local groups helps them discharge that function and also burnish their image.

I think of art as the highest level of creativity. To me, it is one of the greatest sources of enjoyment.

I am a passionate traveler, and from the time I was a child, travel formed me as much as my formal education.

I think that the best hope for peace and prosperity in the world is greater cooperation among nations, which in turn will be produced if both our governments and the people of our countries travel more and get to know each other better.

One cannot expect to coast along and rise automatically to the top, no matter what friends you may have in the company. There may have been a time when, in large corporations, a person could rise simply because he had a stock interest or because he had friends in top management. That's not true today. Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you're not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were.

Populists and isolationists ignore the tangible benefits that have resulted from our active international role during the past half-century.

Successful charitable fund-raising has much in common with managing a business: It requires leadership, persistence, and creativity.

I realize how fortunate I have been; mine has been a wonderful life.

A museum has to renew its collection to be alive, but that does not mean we give on important old works.

I learned more from my mother than from all the art historians and curators who have informed me about technical aspects of art history and art appreciation over the years.

As children we recognized that we belonged to an unusual, even exceptional, family, but the effect was different on each of us.

It is true that I am often startled and even angered and repulsed by the strange directions and provocative content of new forms that seem to pop up every few months.

Only once in my life was I on the edge of incivility. I do not like to be unkind.

I owe much to mother. She had an expert's understanding, but also approached art emotionally.

I do not like to be unkind.

I am never angry, although sometimes distressed.

Much corporate giving is charitable in nature rather than philanthropic.

The role of a museum of modern art is to make a good selection and identify what we believe to be the coming movements, and that requires taste.

I never kept a diary, but I wrote detailed notes of my travels.

The Japanese have a wonderful sense of design and a refinement in their art. They try to produce beautiful paintings with the minimum number of strokes.