"The first thing is character. Before money or anything else. Money cannot buy it."
— J.P. Morgan
The First Thing Is Character Before
The first thing is character. Before money or anything else. Money cannot buy it.
About this quote
From Morgan's testimony before the Pujo Committee — the House Banking Subcommittee investigating the "money trust" — in December 1912. When attorney Samuel Untermyer pressed Morgan on whether commercial credit was based primarily on money or property, Morgan replied that character came first, before money or collateral. He added: "A man I do not trust could not get money from me on all the bonds in Christendom." The exchange became one of the most cited moments in American financial history.
Source
Testimony before the Pujo Committee, 1912