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John Kenneth Galbraith Quotes - Page 7

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Educators have yet to realize how deeply the industrial system is dependent upon them.

Educators have yet to realize how deeply the industrial system is dependent upon them.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Realizing, Educator, Dependent
"The New Industrial State". Book by John Kenneth Galbraith. Chapter XXXIII, Section 4, p. 375, 1967.

People are the common denominator of progress; no improvement is possible with unimproved people.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Teaching, People, Progress
John Kenneth Galbraith (1962). “Economic development”

The questions that are beyond the reach of economics-the beauty, dignity, pleasure and durability of life-may be inconvenient but they are important.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Important, Inquiry, May
John Kenneth Galbraith (1968). “The New Industrial State”

Conscience is better served by a myth.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Myth, Conscience
"The Age of Uncertainty". Book by John Kenneth Galbraith. Chapter 4, p. 111, 1977.

In dealing with Mr. Nixon, it is not easy to be unfair. He invites and justifies all available criticism.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Criticism, Easy, Unfair
"Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went". Book by John Kenneth Galbraith. Chapter XX, "Where It Went," p. 285, 1975.

You roll back the stones, and you find slithering things. That is the world of Richard Nixon.

John Kenneth Galbraith
World, Politics, Stones
Speech of Adlai Stevenson in Los Angeles, written by Galbraith, 1956.

Under the privilege of the First Amendment many, many ridiculous things are said.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Firsts, Civil Rights, Privilege

Only foolish people are completely secure.

John Kenneth Galbraith
People, Foolish, Secure

Talk of revolution is one of avoiding reality.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Reality, Revolution, Avoiding

The myth that holds that the great corporation is the puppet of the market, the powerless servant of the consumer, is, in fact one of the devices by which its power is perpetuated.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Puppets, Corporations, Facts
"The Age of Uncertainty". Book by John Kenneth Galbraith. Chapter 9, p. 258, 1977.

If you're rich you can buy books. If you're poor, you need a library.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Book, Library, Needs

More investment trusts securities were offered in September of 1929 even than in August - the total was above $600 million. However, the nearly simultaneous promotion of Shenandoah and Blue Ridge was to stand as the pinnacle of new era finance. It is difficult not to marvel at the imagination which was implicit in this gargantuan insanity. If there must be madness something may be said for having it on a heroic scale.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Blue, August, Imagination
John Kenneth Galbraith (2009). “The Great Crash 1929”, p.82, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

[The] men of the technostructure are the new and universal priesthood. Their religion is business success; their test of virtue is growth and profit. Their bible is the computer printout; their communion bench is the committee room.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Men, Growth, Society

You will find that [the] State [Department] is the kind of organisation which, though it does big things badly, does small things badly too.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Kindness, Government, Organization
"High on Foggy Bottom: An Outsider's Inside View of the Government". Book by Charles Frankel, 1969.

In the affluent society, no useful distinction can be made between luxuries and necessities.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Luxury, Wealth, Made
'The Affluent Society' (1958) ch. 21

I do the best with what exists.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Do The Best
Source: progressive.org

In economics, hope and faith coexist with great scientific pretension and also a deep desire for respectability.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Faith, Desire, Economics
The New York Times Magazine, June 07, 1970.

Few can believe that suffering, especially by others, is in vain. Anything that is disagreeable must surely have beneficial economic effects.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Believe, Suffering, Economics
"The Age of Uncertainty". Book by John Kenneth Galbraith, 1977.

The urge to consume is fathered by the value system which emphasizes the ability of the society to produce.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Produce, Ability, Value Systems
John Kenneth Galbraith (1998). “The Affluent Society”, p.138, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

But now, as throughout history, financial capacity and political perspicacity are inversely correlated.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Political, Financial, Capacity
John Kenneth Galbraith (1997). “The Great Crash, 1929”, p.194, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

If we are concerned about our great appetite for materials, it is plausible to decrease waste, to make better use of stocks available, and to develop substitutes. But what about the appetite itself? The major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialised countries

John Kenneth Galbraith
Country, Deterioration, Use

Preservationists are the only people in the world who are invariably confirmed in their wisdom after the fact.

John Kenneth Galbraith
People, World, Facts

Of late I have searched diligently to discover the advantages of age, and there is, I have concluded, only one. It is that lovely women treat your approaches with understanding rather than with disdain.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Understanding, Lovely, Age

The greater the wealth the thicker will be the dirt.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Political, Politics, Dirt
'The Affluent Society' (1958) ch. 18, sect. 2

Economics is a subject profoundly conducive to cliche, resonant with boredom. On few topics is an American audience so practiced in turning off its ears and minds. And none can say that the response is ill advised.

John Kenneth Galbraith
Blessing, Boredom, Mind

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