David Rockefeller

I hope the Guggenheim plan will be revived.

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.

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

I am convinced that material things can contribute a lot to making one’s life pleasant, but, basically, if you do not have very good friends and relatives who matter to you, life will be really empty and sad and material things cease to be important.

When I see something I like, I buy it, but I do not look for it madly.

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.

I feel very blessed to have two wonderful, healthy children who keep me completely grounded, sane and throw up on my shoes just before I go to an awards show just so I know to keep it real.

I’m pretty conservative or old-fashion, I should say, it’s how I grew up. I think you have to let your children be individuals, but you have to set boundaries. Ryan and I have similar ideas about all of it, you really have to support you partner in the things that are important to them and hold the line together.

My most important title is “mom-in-chief”. My daughters are still the heart of my heart and the centre of my world.

Family not only need to consist of merely those whom we share blood, but also for those whom we’d give blood.

Your parents leave you too soon and your kids and spouse come along late, but your siblings know you when you are in your most inchoate form. – Jeffrey Kluger

Between a man and his wife nothing ought to rule but love. Authority is for children and servants, yet not without sweetness.

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

Always remember your kid’s name. Always remember where you put your kid. Don’t let your kid drive until their feet can reach the pedals. Use the right size diapers … for yourself. And, when in doubt, make funny faces.

I want my sons to grow up in a world where they’d never think boys are better than girls or that black is better than white.

I just want to make sure when I have kids, I can spend time with them. That’s the whole point.

He didn’t come out of my belly, but my God, I’ve made his bones, because I’ve attended to every meal, and how he sleeps, and the fact that he swims like a fish because I took him to the ocean. I’m so proud of all those things. But he is my biggest pride.

Your children can be around you all day, but if you don’t spend quality time with them and you don’t pay attention to them and talk to them and listen to them, it doesn’t matter that they’re just around you.

My parents were neither very poor nor conspicuously honest.

I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.

How do people make it through life without a sister?