New Delhi, April 12 -- John D. Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York, in 1839, started his career as a bookkeeper in Cleveland, and entered the oil business in the early 1860s as petroleum refining began to expand rapidly. He went on to build Standard Oil into the dominant force in the American oil industry, becoming one of the richest individuals in modern history. After stepping back from active business, he devoted an enormous share of his fortune to philanthropy, backing education, public health, science, and religious causes.

This quote is widely-attributed to Rockefeller though the exact source is unknown. A better-documented version appears in Random Reminiscences of Men and Events: "The man who starts out simply with the ide...