Henry Paulson Jr. '68

On conspicuous consumption and the pursuit of happiness

"I GREW IN CONFIDENCE AT DARTMOUTH. I was achievement oriented. I was fully engaged academically."

"I PLAYED ON SOME GREAT DARTMOUTH FOOTBALL TEAMS. When you're a lineman you're not playing for personal glory, you're thinking of the team's success."

"I DOUBT MY FRIENDS WOULD HAVE PREDICTED I'D GO INTO BUSINESS. I had a low draft number. It was part of the reason I went to business school. When I got a job at the Pentagon, after being in ROTC at Harvard, I welcomed the occupational deferment and the professional challenge."

"WORKING IN THE NIXON WHITE HOUSE WAS A GREAT EARLY JOB—a clear lesson in right and wrong. It was also a threshhold experience...it made it impossible for me to be awed by anyone's position or title."

"THERE ARE SOME PARALLELS BETWEEN WATERGATE AND TODAY'S BUSINESS SCANDALS, at least in terms of how poisonous the political atmosphere seems today. Certainly at the top of the market bubble we saw examples of wrongdoing and excess. Some much-needed reform is under way. But the vast majority of people in corporate America are doing their best. They are honest and law-abiding people."

"A GREAT STRENGTH OF THE U.S. SYSTEM IS THAT WHENSOMETHING GOES WRONG, we can acknowledge it,shine a light on it and move to correct it quickly. If you're at the center of the debate, it can be vicious,but it's healthy. Still, there's no system that's going tostamp out fraud."

T'VE YET TO RUN ACROSS THE PERFECT LEADER. Certain people get built up as perfect leaders and sometimes get knocked down again. The best executives have integrity and a vision. They are focused and committed, and they can say, 'I can't control the environment around me; I can only do my very best.' " "I'M NOT AN INSPIRATIONAL LEADER, I'm just not."

"TRUE HAPPINESS COMES FROM WORKING HARD AND MAKINGPROGRESS, learning from experience, growing as a person and a professional. If, in order to be happy,you need to get everything on your yellow pad done before you go home at the end of the day, you'll drive yourself crazy."

"PEOPLE NEED TO DO SOMETHING THEY ENJOY, to be committed and enthusiastic."

"AS A LITTLE KID, I WANTED TO BE A FOREST RANGER. I've always loved the natural world. I see spectacular beauty and have a passion to save it. Saving raptors is important to me as a means to an end. I see a raptor as the coal miner's canary at the pinnacle of the ecosystem, able to rally people to the cause of conservation. I'm no less interested in orchids."

"YOU CAN'T EXPECT THE COMPANY YOU WORK FOR TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR BALANCE IN YOUR LIFE. If you work 50 hours you'll be asked to work 55; if you work 55 then why not 60? People need to learn to say no to excessive work weeks and nurture outside interests."

"CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTIONBOTHERS ME. The silliest thing is people building 10,000- or 20,000- square-foot homes. Real satisfaction comes from doing things for others."

"EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO DEFINE SUCCESS FOR THEMSELVES. I know many deeply fulfilled people who have been disappointed in their business careers, and people who have had IfUge professional successes but they are unfulfilled because they missed out on what matters, take satisfaction from my spiritual growth and strong family relationships."

CAREER: Goldman Sachs Group chairman and CEO since 1999, 0n staff since 1974; White House staffer, 1972-1973; Pentagon aide, 1970-1972 NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS: Co-chairman of the Asia/ Pacific Council of The Nature Conservancy; member and former chairman of the Peregrine Fund's board of directors EDUCATION: B.A., English literature; M.B.A., Harvard '70 PERSONAL: Wife Wendy; children Amanda '97 and Merritt; resides in New York City and Barrington, Illinois