Cornelius Vanderbilt, railroad magnate and all-around plunderer, in a letter to an adversary in 1853.
“Gentlemen: You have undertaken to cheat me. I will not sue you, for the law takes too long. I will ruin you.”
Well, he and the rest of the robber barons were all a pack of back-stabbing weasels, serving as fine role models for today’s generation of exploiters. Vanderbilt himself appears to be have been detested by nearly everyone.
From Wikipedia
Ruthless in business, Cornelius Vanderbilt was said by some to have made few friends in his lifetime but many enemies. His public perception was that of a vulgar, mean-spirited who made life miserable for everyone around him, including his family.
PS. He did, in fact, ruin his adversary, who no doubt was trying to do the same to him. Really folks, we need an saner economic system, one that isn’t based on exploitation and greed…