It's not bringing in the new ideas that's so hard; it's getting rid of the old ones. John Maynard Keynes More Quotes by John Maynard Keynes More Quotes From John Maynard Keynes To our generation Einstein has been made to become a double symbol - a symbol of the mind travelling in the cold regions of space, and a symbol of the brave and generous outcast, pure in John Maynard Keynes our-generationspaceheart The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is generally understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. John Maynard Keynes freedompowerfulideas They offer me neither food nor drink - intellectual nor spiritual consolation... [Conservatism] leads nowhere; it satisfies no ideal; it conforms to no intellectual standard, it is not safe, or calculated to preserve from the spoilers that degree of civilization which we have already attained. John Maynard Keynes intellectualspiritualcivilization A study of the history of opinion is a necessary preliminary to the emancipation of the mind. John Maynard Keynes opinionmindhistory Thus, the weight of my criticism is directed against the inadequacy of the theoretical foundations of the laissez-faire doctrine upon which I was brought up and for many years I taught John Maynard Keynes foundationcriticismyears I feel no shame at being found still owning a share when the bottom of the market comes…I would go much further than that. I should say that it is from time to time the duty of a serious investor to accept the depreciation of his holdings with equanimity and without reproaching himself. … An investor…should be aiming primarily at long-period results, and should be solely judged by these. John Maynard Keynes shameseriouslong When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done John Maynard Keynes donejobscountry In a regime of Free Trade and free economic intercourse it would be of little consequence that iron lay on one side of a political frontier, and labour, coal, and blast furnaces on the other. But as it is, men have devised ways to impoverish themselves and one another; and prefer collective animosities to individual happiness. John Maynard Keynes individual-happinessironmen There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. John Maynard Keynes currencyeconomicsmean To suggest social action for the public good to the city London is like discussing The Origin of Species to a Bishop sixty years ago. John Maynard Keynes bishopscitiesyears How can I adopt a creed which, preferring the mud to the fish, exalts the boorish proletariat above the bourgeois and the intelligentsia who, with whatever faults, are the quality in life and surely carry the seeds of all human advancement? John Maynard Keynes advancementmudquality It would not be foolish to contemplate the possibility of a far greater progress still. John Maynard Keynes possibilityprogressfoolish In truth, the gold standard is already a barbarous relic. John Maynard Keynes relicsstandardsgold I find myself more and more relying for a solution of our problems on the invisible hand which I tried to eject from economic thinking twenty years ago. John Maynard Keynes handsyearsthinking The Economic Problem...the problem of want and poverty and the economic struggle between classes and nations, is nothing but a frightful muddle, a transitory and unnecessary muddle. John Maynard Keynes strugglewantclass The time has already come when each country needs a considered national policy about what size of population, whether larger or smaller than at present or the same, is most expedient. And having settled this policy, we must take steps to carry it into operation. The time may arrive a little later when the community as a whole must pay attention to the innate quality as well as to the mere numbers of its future members. John Maynard Keynes eugenicsnumberscountry The introduction of a substantial Government transfer tax on all transactions might prove the most serviceable reform available,with a view to mitigating the predominance of speculation in the United States. John Maynard Keynes united-statesgovernmentviews Professional investment may be likened to those newspaper competitions in which the competitors have to pick out the six prettiest faces from a hundred photographs, the prize being awarded to the competitor whose choice most nearly corresponds to the average preferences of the competitors as a whole. John Maynard Keynes competitionchoicesaverage Investment based on genuine long-term expectations is so difficult today as to be scarcely practicable. John Maynard Keynes investingexpectationslong The inhabitant of London could order by telephone, sipping his morning tea in bed, the various products of the whole earth -- he could at the same time and by the same means adventure his wealth in the natural resources and new enterprise of any quarter of the world -- he could secure forthwith, if he wished, cheap and comfortable means of transit to any country or climate without passport or other formality. John Maynard Keynes morningpeacecountry
