He would get to his office as early as seven-thirty or eight, though business did not usually begin until after nine, and remain until four-thirty or five, reading the papers or calculating during the hours when there were no customers.

Then he would take Jennie and go for a walk or to call on some business acquaintance.

His home room, the newspapers, the floor of the exchange, his offices, and the streets were his only resources.

He cared nothing for plays, books, pictures, music--and for women only in his one-angled, mentally impoverished way.
His limitations were so marked that to a lover of character like Cowperwood he was fascinating--but Cowperwood only used character.

He never idled over it long artistically.
As Cowperwood suspected, what old Laughlin did not know about Chicago financial conditions, deals, opportunities, and individuals was scarcely worth knowing.