"At one time, before uses were discovered for petroleum, the presence of oil in a piece of land lowered its value, since this unaesthetic ooze could find its way to the water supply or make a nuisance of itself elsewhere. It was the kind of land that unscrupulous operators would unload on the unsuspecting. Some people found themselves owning land with oil on it through gullibility—but when such land later became valuable, the owners became just as rich as if they had wisely foreseen it all."

—Thomas Sowell