It is almost as important to know what is not serious as to know what is. John Kenneth Galbraith More Quotes by John Kenneth Galbraith More Quotes From John Kenneth Galbraith Agreeable as it is to know where one is proceeding, it is far more important to know where one has arrived. John Kenneth Galbraith proceedingimportantknows One man's consumption becomes his neighbor's wish. John Kenneth Galbraith neighborwishmen No society ever seems to have succumbed to boredom. Man has developed an obvious capacity for surviving the pompous reiteration of the commonplace. John Kenneth Galbraith boredomcapacitymen 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. John Kenneth Galbraith activesafenumbers THE INDUSTRIAL SYSTEM requires that prices be under effective control. And it seeks the greatest possible influence over what buyers take at the established prices. John Kenneth Galbraith buyersinfluence Had the Bible been in clear straightforward language, had the ambiguities and contradictions been edited out, and had the language been constantly modernised to accord with contemporary taste it would almost certainly have been, or become, a work of lesser influence. John Kenneth Galbraith atheismlanguagetaste Nothing is more portable than rich people and their money John Kenneth Galbraith rich-peoplerichpeople Economic life, as always, is a matrix in which result becomes cause and cause becomes result. John Kenneth Galbraith economicresultscauses Economists are economical, among other things, of ideas; most make those of their graduate days do for a lifetime. John Kenneth Galbraith politicswisdomideas 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. John Kenneth Galbraith lovelycommonyears A nuclear war does not defend a country and it does not defend a system. I've put it the same way many times; not even the most accomplished ideologue will be able to tell the difference between the ashes of capitalism and the ashes of communism. John Kenneth Galbraith differenceswarcountry When you see reference to a new paradigm you should always, under all circumstances, take cover. John Kenneth Galbraith paradigmshouldcircumstances Preservationists are the only people in the world who are invariably confirmed in their wisdom after the fact. John Kenneth Galbraith factspeopleworld In Europe and the United States the two decades following the Second World War will for long be remembered as a very good time, the time when capitalism really worked. Everywhere in the industrialized countries production increased. Unemployment was everywhere low. Prices were nearly stable. When production lagged and unemployment rose, governments intervened to take up the slack, as Keynes had urged. John Kenneth Galbraith governmentwarcountry It is the good fortune of the affluent country that the opportunity cost of economic discussion is low and hence it can afford all kinds. John Kenneth Galbraith costopportunitycountry In a world where for pedagogic and other purposes a very large number of economists is required, an arrangement which discourages many of them from John Kenneth Galbraith purposenumbersworld There is little that can be said about most economic goods. A toothbrush does little but clean teeth. Aspirin does little but dull pain. Alcohol is important mostly for making people more or less drunk ... There being so little to be said, much is to be invented. John Kenneth Galbraith drunkpainbusiness Any consideration of the life and larger social existence of the modern corporate man begins and also largely ends with the effect of one all-embracing force. That is organization - the highly structured assemblage of men, and now some women, of which he is a part. It is to this, at the expense of family, friends, sex, recreation and sometimes health and effective control of alcoholic intake, that he is expected to devote his energies. John Kenneth Galbraith organizationmensex I never enjoyed writing a book more; indeed, it is the only one I remember in no sense as a labor but as a joy. John Kenneth Galbraith writingjoybook The sense of responsibility in the financial community for the community as a whole is not small. It is nearly nil. John Kenneth Galbraith financialcommunityresponsibility
