Greed is all right, by the way I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good read more

Greed is all right, by the way I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.

As the science of economics...exploded the fallacies of every brand of utopianism, it was outlawed and stigmatized as unscientific.

As the science of economics...exploded the fallacies of every brand of utopianism, it was outlawed and stigmatized as unscientific.

Corporations cannot commit treason, or be outlawed or excommunicated, for they have no souls.

Corporations cannot commit treason, or be outlawed or excommunicated, for they have no souls.

Finance is the art of passing currency from hand to hand until it finally disappears.

Finance is the art of passing currency from hand to hand until it finally disappears.

The rich adopt novelties and become accustomed to their use. This sets a fashion which others imitate. Once the richer read more

The rich adopt novelties and become accustomed to their use. This sets a fashion which others imitate. Once the richer classes have adopted a certain way of living, producers have an incentive to improve the methods of manufacture so that soon it is possible for the poorer classes to follow suit. Thus luxury furthers progress. Innovation "is the whim of an elite before it becomes a need of the public. The luxury today is the necessity of tomorrow." Luxury is the roadmaker of progress: it develops latent needs and makes people discontented. In so far as they think consistently, moralists who condemn luxury must recommend the comparatively desireless existence of the wild life roaming in the woods as the ultimate ideal of civilized life.

...we see that there are two different kinds of...societies: (a) parasitic societies and (b) producing societies. The former are those read more

...we see that there are two different kinds of...societies: (a) parasitic societies and (b) producing societies. The former are those which live from hunting, fishing, or merely gleaning. By their economic activities they do not increase, but rather decrease, the amount of wealth in the world. The second kind of societies, producing societies, live by agricultural and pastoral activities. By these activities they seek to increase the amount of wealth in the world.

In all recorded history there has not been one economist who has had to worry about where the next meal read more

In all recorded history there has not been one economist who has had to worry about where the next meal would come from.

Capitalists are motivated not chiefly by the desire to consume wealth or indulge their appetites, but by the freedom and read more

Capitalists are motivated not chiefly by the desire to consume wealth or indulge their appetites, but by the freedom and power to consummate their entrepreneurial ideas.

I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.

I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.