Capitalism Quotes

• Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.

  John Maynard Keynes

  Fun, Business, Men

  Attributed by Michael Albert, "Moving Forward: Programme for a Participatory Economy", (p. 128), 2000.

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  Government 'help' to business is just as disastrous as government persecution... the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off.

  Ayn Rand

  Witty, Business, Government

  Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, Robert Hessen (1986). “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal”, p.131, Penguin

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• Capitalism works better than it sounds, while socialism sounds better than it works.

  Richard M. Nixon

  Sound, Socialism

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  Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

  Winston Churchill

  Philosophy, Ignorance, Democratic Socialism

  Speech at the Scottish Unionist Conference, Perth, Scotland, May 28, 1948.

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• Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.

  Pope Francis

  Economic Inequality, Justice, People

  "The Joy of the Gospel: Evangelii Gaudium". Book by Pope Francis, w2.vatican.va. November 26, 2013.

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• The great advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government.

  Milton Friedman

  Government, Civilization, Agriculture

  "Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition".

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• Fascism is capitalism in decay.

  Vladimir Lenin

  Political, Decay, Politics

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  We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both.

  Louis D. Brandeis

  Wisdom, Country, Power

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• Capitalism has always been a failure for the lower classes. It is now beginning to fail for the middle classes.

  Howard Zinn

  Class, Failing, Middle

  "A People's History of the United States". Book by Howard Zinn (Chapter 24), 1980.

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  The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.

  Winston Churchill

  Inspirational, Freedom, Independent

  Sir Winston Churchill (1965). “The Churchill Wit”

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• A people... who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything.

  George Washington

  People, Banking, May

  George Washington, John Clement Fitzpatrick, David Maydole Matteson (1784). “The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799”, p.473

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• A system of capitalism presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a central bank. Capitalism cherishes voluntary contracts and interest rates that are determined by savings, not credit creation by a central bank.

  Ron Paul

  Sound, Saving, Credit

  Ron Paul (2008). “Pillars of Prosperity: Free Markets, Honest Money, Private Property”, p.43, Ludwig von Mises Institute

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• It only stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master.

  Ayn Rand

  Sacrifice, Men, Offering

  Ayn Rand (2005). “The Fountainhead”, p.677, Penguin

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• I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

  Ayn Rand

  Life, Relationship, Bad Ass

  Atlas Shrugged pt. 3, ch. 1 (1957)

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• The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody had decided not to see.

  Ayn Rand

  Inspirational, Live Life, Teaching

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• From the smallest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have comes from one attribute of man - the function of his reasoning mind.

  Ayn Rand

  Religious, Men, Mind

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• The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. Whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles.

  Ayn Rand

  Winning, Evil, Hatred

  Ayn Rand (1988). “The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z”, p.170, Penguin

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• Tyranny is the political corollary of socialism, as representative government is the political corollary of the market economy.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Government, Political, Socialism

  Ludwig Von Mises (2008). “Planning for Freedom: Let the Market System Work : a Collection of Essays and Addresses”

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• The desire for an increase of wealth can be satisfied through exchange, which is the only method possible in a capitalist economy, or by violence and petition as in a militarist society, where the strong acquire by force, the weak by petitioning.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Strong, Capitalist Economy, Desire

  Ludwig von Mises (2016). “Socialism - An Economic and Sociological Analysis: The Economist”, p.336, VM eBooks

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• For it is an essential difference between capitalist and socialist production that under capitalism men provide for themselves, while under Socialism they are provided for.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Men, Differences, Liberty

  Ludwig von Mises (2016). “Socialism - An Economic and Sociological Analysis: The Economist”, p.409, VM eBooks

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• The salesman thanks the customer for patronizing his shop and asks him to come again. But the socialists say: Be grateful to Hitler, render thanks to Stalin; be nice and submissive, then the great man will be kind to you later too.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Nice, Grateful, Men

  Ludwig Von Mises (1985). “Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War”, Libertarian Press

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• The characteristic feature of capitalism that distinguishes it from pre-capitalist methods of production was its new principle of marketing. Capitalism is not simply mass production, but mass production to satisfy the needs of the masses.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Marketing, Principles, Needs

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• The early industrialists were for the most part men who had their origin in the same social strata from which their workers came. They lived very modestly, spent only a fraction of their earnings for their households and put the rest back into the business.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Men, Earning, Social

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• In spite of the anticapitalistic policies of all governments and of almost all political parties, the capitalist mode of production

  Ludwig von Mises

  Party, Government, Political

  Ludwig Von Mises (1947). “Planned Chaos”

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• Is still fulfilling its social function in supplying the consumers with more, better and cheaper goods.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Social, Function, Goods

  Ludwig Von Mises (1947). “Planned Chaos”, p.11, Ludwig von Mises Institute

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