Jean Paul Getty

Date

1892–1976

Description

City of birth: Minneapolis
Country of birth: United States
Field of activity: Economics — business

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Quotes

‘I’ve stated that I have no guilt feelings about being rich. On the other hand, if I thought that by giving 99 percent of my wealth to the poor or some government, I would help abolish poverty and human ills, I would not hesitate to do so. But suppose I did and every man, woman and child in the world received even as much as a dollar. What lasting good would it do? The answer is none — and I would have nothing left to invest in productive enterprises that filled certain human needs and requirements even while creating jobs and paying salaries and taxes. No, I repeat. Nature is not impartial and even-handed. If it were, human nature — and human foibles — would swiftly redress the situation and create disproportions and inequities. Am I a cynic? Perhaps, although I prefer to consider myself a realist’ … I was frequently on the verge of giving up. That I did not is due in large part to the warm-hearted encouragement and advice I received from older, seasoned oilmen like John Markham and R.M. McFarlin. I owe a very special dept of gratitude to McFarlin. A multi-millionaire and part owner of the McMan Oil Company, one of America’s most successful oil-producing firms, he went out of his way to befriend me. He bolstered my sagging morale, gave me in-valuable counsel and passed on knowledge and lessons he had learned through long experience. …. I’ve purposely refrained from discussions of my relationship with father and mother and details of my personal life and feelings, for these belong elsewhere in this book. However, I must state here that the love, respect and admiration I had — and still have — for my father were boundless. Not long after he passed on, I wrote these words — they were from the heart, and remain so: His loving kindness and great heart, combined with a charming simplicity of matter, made George F. Getty the idol of all who knew him.’

Author

Jean Paul Getty

Speaker

Jean Paul Getty

Title of the publication

As I See It: The autobiography of J. Paul Getty

Other contributors

n/a

Publisher (or journal name with vol. and number)

Prentice-Hall

City of publication

Upper Saddle River

Country of publication (modern nation-state equivalent)

United States of America

Publication date

1976

Location [pp. or web]

https://bit.ly/34WLsYU

Other location

https://shop.getty.edu/products/as-i-see-it-978-0892367009

Original language

English

Genre

Book

Context

A revised edition of As I see It: The Autobiography of J. Paul Getty was printed in 2003 by the J. Paul Getty Trust.

‘My aim in writing The Joys of Collecting is an ambitious one. It is my desire to convey to the reader the romance and zest — the excitement, suspense, thrills and triumphs — that make art collecting one of the most exhilarating and satisfying of all human endeavours. In my opinion, an individual without any love of the arts cannot be considered completely civilized.’

Author

John Paul Getty

Speaker

John Paul Getty

Title of the publication

The Joys of Collecting

Other contributors

Jean Charbonneaux, Julius S. Held, and Pierre Verlet, provided essays

Publisher (or journal name with vol. and number)

Hawthorn Books

City of publication

New York

Country of publication (modern nation-state equivalent)

United States of America

Publication date

1976

Location [pp. or web]

https://bit.ly/34SLJMy

Other location

https://shop.getty.edu/products/the-joys-of-collecting-978-1606060872

Original language

English

Genre

Book

Context

A revised edition of The Joys of Collecting was printed in 2003 by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

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