188 quotes
We can safely abandon the doctrine of the eighties, namely that the rich were not working because they had too little money, the poor because they had much.
In accordance with an old but not outworn tradition, it might now be wise for all to conclude that crime, or even misbehavior, is the act of an individual, not the predisposition of a class.
The Great Crash, 1929 (1954)
Authorship of any sort is a fantastic indulgence of the ego. It is well no doubt, to reflect on how much one owes to others.
The Affluent Society (1958)
Clearly the most unfortunate people are those who must do the same thing over and over again, every minute, or perhaps twenty to the minute. They deserve the shortest hours and the highest pay.
Made to Last (1964)
Nothing in our time is more interesting than the erstwhile capitalist corporation and the erstwhile Communist firm should, under the imperatives of organization, come together as oligarchies of their own members.
The New Industrial State (1967)
All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.
The Age of Uncertainty (1977)
Nothing is more portable than rich people and their money
Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went (1975)
Conscience is better served by a myth.
The Age of Uncertainty (1977)
We may lay it down as a rule that the older the exercise of any power, the more benign it will appear, and the more recent its assumption, the more unnatural and even dangerous it will seem.
The New Industrial State (1967)
Our political tradition sets great store by the generalized symbol of evil. This is the wrongdoer whose wrongdoing will be taken by the public to be the secret propensity of a whole community or class.
The Great Crash, 1929 (1954)
The latter situation, that of the monopolists, is the apogee of improper influence. In the English language only a few words — fraud, subversion, sodomy — have a greater connotation of nonviolent wickedness.
The New Industrial State (1967)
In a community wherepublic services have failed to keep abreast of private consumption things are very different. Here, in an atmosphere of private opulence and public squalor, the private goods have full sway.
The Affluent Society (1958)
In fact, the wage-price spiral is the functional counterpart of unemployment. The latter occurs when there is insufficient demand; the spiral operates when there is too much and also,unfortunately, when there is just enough.
The New Industrial State (1967)
Meetings are a great trap. … they are indispensable when you don't want to do anything.
Ambassador's Journal (1969)
However, Hoover had converted the simple business ritual of reassurance into a major instrument of public policy.
The Great Crash, 1929 (1954)
The Coolidge Bull market was a remarkable phenomenon. The ruthlessness of its liquidation was, in its own way, equally remarkable.
The Great Crash, 1929 (1954)
However, it is safe to say that at the peak in 1929 the number of active speculators was less — and probably was much less — than a million.
The Great Crash, 1929 (1954)
The advisers and counselors were not, however, analyzing the danger or even the possibility. They were serving only as the custodians of bad memories.
The Great Crash, 1929 (1954)
SOME YEARS, like some poets,and politicians and some lovely women, are singled out for fame far beyond the common lot, and 1929 was clearly such a year.
The Great Crash, 1929 (1954)
Much literary criticism comes from people for whom extreme specialization is a cover for either grave cerebral inadequacy or terminal laziness, the latter being a much cherished aspect of academic freedom.