My rule on honorary degrees has always been to have one more than Arthur Schlesinger Jr. John Kenneth Galbraith More Quotes by John Kenneth Galbraith More Quotes From John Kenneth Galbraith Much literary criticism comes from people for whom extreme specialization is a cover either for grave cerebral inadequacy or terminal laziness, the latter being a much-cherished aspect of academic freedom. John Kenneth Galbraith freedom criticism people Superficial observers have long criticized the United States for making a fetish of youth. This is unfair. Uniquely among modern organs of public and private administration, its national legislature rewards senility. John Kenneth Galbraith rewards united-states long It has been the acknowledged right of every Marxist scholar to read into Marx the particular meaning that he himself prefers and to treat all others with indignation. John Kenneth Galbraith marxist treats economy There are times in politics when you must be on the right side and lose. John Kenneth Galbraith politics political sides What was needed was a policy that increased the supply of money available for use and then ensured its use. Then the state of trade would have to improve. John Kenneth Galbraith policy states use It's a rule worth having in mind. Income almost always flows along the same axis as power but in the opposite direction. John Kenneth Galbraith axes mind opposites Conscience is better served by a myth. John Kenneth Galbraith myth conscience If inheritance qualifies one for office, intelligence cannot be a requirement. John Kenneth Galbraith inheritance requirements office That one never need to look beyond the love of money for explanation of human behavior is one of the most jealously guarded simplification of our culture. John Kenneth Galbraith culture looks needs Economic theory is the most prestigious subject of instruction and study. Agricultural economics, labor economics and marketing are lower caste fields of study. John Kenneth Galbraith marketing study fields The contented and economically comfortable have a very discriminating view of government. Nobody is ever indignant about bailing out failed banks and failed savings and loans associations... But when taxes must be paid for the lower middle class and poor, the government assumes an aspect of wickedness. John Kenneth Galbraith government views class The ideas by which people . . . interpret their existence and in measure guide their behavior, were not forged in a world of wealth. John Kenneth Galbraith people world ideas Emancipation of belief is the most formidable of the tasks of reform and the one on which all else depends. John Kenneth Galbraith reform tasks believe The present age of contentment will come to an end only when and if the adverse developments that it fosters challenge the sense of comfortable well-being John Kenneth Galbraith contentment age challenges Only men of considerable vanity write books; consistently therewith, I worried lest the world were exchanging an irreplaceable author for a more easily purchased diplomat. John Kenneth Galbraith writing men book 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. John Kenneth Galbraith corporations circles thinking In the usual (though certainly not in every) public decision on economic policy, the choice is between courses that are almost equally good or equally bad. It is the narrowest decisions that are most ardently debated. John Kenneth Galbraith choices usual decision There is wonder and a certain wicked pleasure in these giddy ascents and terrible falls, especially as they happen to other people. John Kenneth Galbraith wicked people fall Truth has anciently been called the first casualty of war. Money may, in fact, have priority. John Kenneth Galbraith priorities may war Any country that has Milton Friedman as an adviser has nothing to fear from a few million Arabs. John Kenneth Galbraith adviser milton country