Try To Turn Every Disaster Into

Attributed in The Rockefellers: An American Dynasty (1976) by Peter Collier and David Horowitz, a detailed biographical account drawing on family interviews and archival sources. The sentiment is characteristic of Rockefeller's documented approach to adversity: the 1870s depression, the federal antitrust campaign that broke up Standard Oil in 1911, and the devastating public relations damage inflicted by Ida Tarbell's 1904 investigative series were all met with methodical adaptation rather than retreat. His Random Reminiscences (1909) return repeatedly to the theme of treating setbacks as strategic information rather than personal defeat.