Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The Wealth of Nations may not be an original book, but it is unquestionably a masterpiece.
I worked up a daily fury about some economic injustice because there were so many of them.
Creative people tend to pass the responsibility for getting down to brass tacks to others.
Democracy will never be supplanted by a republic of experts—and that is a very good thing.
When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.
Don't you get tired of seeing so many "non-conformists" with the same non-conformist look?
All justice is inherently social. Can someone on a desert island be either just or unjust?
There is much more to life than what gets measured in accounts. Even economists know that.
Democracy gives the aura of legitimacy to acts that would otherwise be considered tyranny.
I learned that you have to evaluate the effects of public policy as opposed to intentions.
It's people seeking more for themselves that has produced a better life for all Americans.
The number one problem in today's generation and economy is the lack of financial literacy.
History has not dealt kindly with the aftermath of protracted periods of low risk premiums.
One of the major problems with China is that its innovation is largely borrowed technology.
I think education has a bigger impact on the lives of people than absolutely anything else.
It is inconceivable that people are motivated solely or even mainly by external incentives.
Worldviews are more a mental security blanket than a serious effort to understand the world
My record at the University of California as an undergraduate was mediocre to say the best.
We all know that Americans love their statistics - in sport, obviously. And in finance too.
A stronger yuan could lead to greater Chinese asset accumulation in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Few countries have become rich through free-trade, free-market policies, and few ever will.
An ounce of gold is an ounce of gold, whether it consists of guineas, sovereigns or eagles.
Egalitarianism, in every form and shape, is incompatible with the idea of private property.
In principle, every social situation involves strategic interaction among the participants.
People who are in a fortunate position always attribute virtue to what makes them so happy.
Ralph [ Nader] is an old friend of mine, and he does a useful job in displaying a position.
Education: the inculcation of the incomprehensible into the indifferent by the incompetent.
But the dreams of designing diplomats do not always prosper, and we must trust the future .
Hard-core structural poverty has a counterpart at the apex: hard-core structural affluence.
I should mention that I am a member of the board of directors of Dimensional Fund Advisors.
Economic freedom is ... an indispensable means toward the achievement of political freedom.
[T]he burden of government is not measured by how much it taxes, but by how much it spends.
If we internationalize everything, we end up with rules that stifle freedom and innovation.
We're essentially continuing a system where profits are privatized and...losses socialized.
Washington is a black hole into which all sanity is sucked out of government deliberations.
Economists discount any factors that would not influence the thinking of a rational person.
Don't get trapped by looking at what the price was that you paid for some stock originally.
Though not always called upon to condemn ourselves, it is always safe to suspect ourselves.
There is no right faith in believing what is true, unless we believe it because it is true.
Stalinism is a pathology of socialism, Hitlerism being the apposite example for capitalism.
I believe the power of Economics is to help provide a unique lens for looking at the world.
We want capitalism and market forces to be the slave of democracy rather than the opposite.
'Das Kapital,' I think, is very difficult to read, and for me, it was not very influential.
Politeness and consideration for others is like investing pennies and getting dollars back.
The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings.
Right after liberal Democrats, the most dangerous politicians are country club Republicans.
Anyone who does not understand the utter cynicism of politics does not understand politics.
If the Constitution framers would come back today, they would have contempt for most of us.
Reaching into someone else's pocket to assist one's fellow man hardly qualifies as charity.
No man pays double or twice for the same thing, forasmuch as nothing can be spent but once.