Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness and death. 

Greene says that people hide their frustrations and aggressions through manipulation. He tells the reader to recognize the signs of aggression and not feed their desire for power by being outwardly angry and fearful. He suggests managing their own aggression positively and constructively. He tells the story of how John D. Rockefeller rose from a reserved bookkeeper in Cleveland, Ohio to the wealthy, manipulative, ambitious owner of Standard Oil. After starting a company with Maurice Clark, Rockefeller convinced him to split the company, allowing Rockefeller to buy their oil refinery and transform it into Standard Oil. He then convinced Colonel Payne, J. W. Fawcett, and other oil owners to give him their refineries. Though some tried to challenge him, this only made Rockefeller more aggressive, even targeting oil businessmen who were smaller and unlikely to be threats. He bought out his competitors, allowing him to monopolize the oil industry in the 19th-century United States. 

Greene argues that Rockefeller’s success was due to his aggressive personality in business, which likely stemmed from his childhood poverty and his father’s unreliability. This upbringing made him want to tame and control the chaotic world of American oil.