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John Kenneth Galbraith Quotes

1908–2006 Canada

John Kenneth Galbraith (15 October 1908 – 29 April 2006), also known as J. K.

Canada
Academics
Economists
Non-fiction authors

Also known as: Galbraith, John Kenneth

Random John Kenneth Galbraith quote

188 quotes

In the affluent society, no sharp distinction can be made between luxuries and necessaries.

The Affluent Society (1958)

Do not be alarmed by simplification, complexity is often a device for claiming sophistication, or for evading simple truths.

The Age of Uncertainty (1977)

One of the uses of depression is the exposure of what auditors fail to find.

The Great Crash, 1929 (1954)

But there is still a considerable difference between a failure to do enough that is right and a determination to do much that is wrong.

The Great Crash, 1929 (1954)

That one never need to look beyond the love of money for explanation of human behavior is one of the most jealously guarded simplifications of our culture.

The New Industrial State (1967)

Truth has anciently been called the first casualty of war. Money may, in fact, have priority.

Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went (1975)

All successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door. The violence of revolutions is the violence of men who charge into a vacuum.

The Age of Uncertainty (1977)

The Metropolis should have been aborted long before it becameNew York, London or Tokyo.

The Age of Uncertainty (1977)

We do not manufacture wants for goods we do not produce.

The Affluent Society (1958)

Our political life favors the extremes of speech; the man who is gifted in the arts of abuse is bound to be a notable, if not always a great figure.

The Great Crash, 1929 (1954)

Because individuals have more standing in the culture than organizations, they regularly get credit for achievement that belongs, in fact, to organization.

The New Industrial State (1967)

With the American failure came world failure.

Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went (1975)

Ideas may be superior to vested interest. They are also very often the children of vested interest.

The Age of Uncertainty (1977)

You roll back the stones, and you find slithering things. That is the world of Richard Nixon.

Oligopoly is an imperfect monopoly. Like the despotism of the Dual Monarchy, it is saved only by its incompetence.

The New Industrial State (1967)

It is not the individual's right to buy that is being protected. Rather, it is the seller's right to manage the individual.

The New Industrial State (1967)

In 1929 the discovery of the wonders of the geometric series struck Wall Street with a force comparable to the invention of the wheel.

The Great Crash, 1929 (1954)

Marx profoundly affected those who did not accept his system. His influence extended to those who least supposed they were subject to it.

The Affluent Society (1958)

Few can believe that suffering, especially by others, is in vain. Anything that is disagreeable must surely have beneficial economic effects.

The Age of Uncertainty (1977)

The notion of a formal structure of command must be abandoned. It is more useful to think of the mature corporation as a series of concentric circles.

The New Industrial State (1967)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: John Kenneth Galbraith (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.