Fake Rockefeller quote — There is no historical record, speech transcript, letter, or biography that contains the line “I don’t want a nation of thinkers, I want a nation of workers.” Researchers have traced it to modern internet conspiracy circles, not to Rockefeller.
The quote is attributed to John D. Rockefeller, from “John D. Rockefeller on Making Money: Advice and Words of Wisdom on Building and Sharing Wealth”, p.7, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. 2015 as per AZ Quotes
https://www.azquotes.com/quote/607052
The cite is legit, and besides Skyhorse Press, an edition of the same book was published by Simon and Schuster. The problem is, I cannot find a cite of him saying it before 2000. It might be out there somewhere, and Rockefeller is a bad dude (despite being a distant relative by marriage). But these things sometimes get a life of their own.