Titan

I recently finished reading The 38 Letters from John D. Rockefeller to His Son. It’s a brilliant book that offers a glimpse into how this titan of the oil industry thought and communicated privately with his son.

John D. Rockefeller was the founder of Standard Oil and is considered to be one of the richest people to ever live. In 1911, the government forced the company to be dissolved into 34 individual businesses as part of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. After many mergers and name changes the remnants of Standard Oil still exist today; Exxon Mobile, BP and Chevron are all distant ancestors of Standard Oil.

There are a few things about the letters that l found interesting. The way he spoke about mindset, ambition and attitude resonated with me; these concepts are just as relevant today as they were over 100 years ago.

Below I’ve pulled some quotes from the book.

Only when you can endure what people cannot, can you then do what people cannot do.

Conformity is the enemy of thought and the jailor of freedom.

The essence of life is struggle and competition; struggle and competition are stimulating.

Plan boldly and implement carefully.

Anything can happen in this world, but nothing can happen without doing anything.

Optimism is a belief that life will be, in the long run, more good than bad, that even when bad things happen, the good will eventually outbalance them.

We cannot control the direction of the wind, but we can adjust the sails.

Attitude is our best friend and also our worst enemy.

Excuses are the source of failure.

There is nothing in this world that can replace perseverance.

We have to be brave when there are no options, and resolutely find a way.

Blaming is the number one enemy in destroying leadership.

No matter what era we’ve lived in and experienced, we are all humans and are subject to our own emotions and biases. Rockefeller’s letters offer us wisdom and an insight into how his mind worked. What I find interesting is that even though his words were written in a different time without most creature comforts and technologies like air travel and medicine, his words still resonate with us.

Why is this?

Human behaviour never changes. It always has and always will be the same and it doesn’t matter what our surroundings are or the technological improvements that have happened over time.

Charlie Munger once said, go through life making friends with the eminent dead.

For myself, Munger’s quote is why try to read old books.

l just want to be inspired.

Thank you for reading.

J.H.Repetto