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George Soros

George Soros Quotes

Business magnate

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Famous George Soros Quotes

“Anticipating attacks, I should like to emphasize that I do not subscribe to the myths propagated by enemies of Israel and I am not blaming Jews for anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism predates the birth of Israel. Neither Israel's policies nor the critics of those policies should be held responsible for anti-Semitism. At the same time, I do believe that attitudes toward Israel are influenced by Israel's policies, and attitudes toward the Jewish community are influenced by the pro-Israel lobby's success in suppressing divergent views.”

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Author:George Soros
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“The securitisation of mortgages added a new dimension of systemic risk. Financial engineers claimed they were reducing risks through geographic diversification: in fact they were increasing them by creating an agency problem. The agents were more interested in maximising fee income than in protecting the interests of bondholders. That is the verity that was ignored by regulators and market participants alike.”

FactsProblemInterestRiskCreatingFinancialIncomeAgentsAgencyDimensionsEngineersIgnoredReducingMortgageParticipantsFeesDiversificationRegulatorsFinancial Risk
Author:George Soros
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“I would be lying, however, if I claimed that I could always formulate worthwhile hypotheses on the basis of my theoretical framework. Sometimes there were no reflexive processes to be found; sometimes I failed to find them; and, what was the most painful of all, sometimes I got them wrong. One way or another, I often invested without a worthwhile hypothesis and my activities were not very different from a random walk.”

IfsWayDifferentSometimesWould BeLyingFoundProcessWalksActivityBasesInvestingPainfulOne WayWorthwhileHypothesisFrameworkTheoretical
Book:The Alchemy of Finance: Reading the Mind of the Market
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“Money values do not simply mirror the state of affairs in the real world; valuation is a positive act that makes an impact on the course of events. Monetary and real phenomena are connected in a reflexive fashion; that is, they influence each other mutually. The reflexive relationship manifests itself most clearly in the use and abuse of credit.”

WorldRealStatesUseValuesCoursesInfluenceFashionEventsAbuseMirrorsImpactInvestingAffairConnectedCreditReal WorldMonetaryValuationUse And Abuse
Book:The Alchemy of Finance: Reading the Mind of the Market
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“The only thing that could hurt me is if my success encouraged me to return to my childhood fantasies of omnipotence - but that is not likely to happen as long as I remain engaged in the financial markets, because they constantly remind me of my limitations.”

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Book:The Alchemy of Finance: Reading the Mind of the Market
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“In the case of a meltdown, the regulatory authorities may find themselves obliged to step in to preserve the integrity of the system. It is in that light that the authorities have both a right and an obligation to supervise and regulate derivative instruments.”

MayLightStepsCasesIntegrityAuthorityInstrumentsInvestingObligationPreservesObligedDerivativesMeltdowns
Book:Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve
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“We [at Soros Fund Management] use options and more exotic derivatives sparingly. We try to catch new trends early and in later stages we try to catch trend reversals. Therefore, we tend to stabilize rather than destabilize the market. We are not doing this as a public service. It is our style of making money.”

TryingUseStageStyleManagementInvestingMaking MoneyFundTrendsPublic ServiceExoticDerivativesReversal
Book:Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve
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“I'll tell you what I'd do if it were up to me: I would establish a strictly controlled distribution network through which I would make most drugs, excluding the most dangerous ones like crack, legally available. Initially I would keep the prices low enough to destroy the drug trade. Once that objective was attained I would keep raising the prices, very much like the excise duty on cigarettes, but I would make an exception for registered addicts in order to discourage crime. I would use a portion of the income for prevention and treatment. And I would foster social opprobrium of drug use.”

IfsEnoughUseOrderSocialDangerousCrimeDutyDrugLowsTradeAvailableLibertarianIncomeObjectivesExceptionTreatmentCracksControlledPortionsCigaretteAddictDistributionDiscouragingPreventionDrug Use
Author:George Soros
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“Although I have made a fortune in the financial markets, I now fear that the untrammeled intensification of laissez-faire capitalism and the spread of market values into all areas of life is endangering our open and democratic society. The main enemy of the open society, I believe, is no longer the communist but the capitalist threat.”

BelieveMadeLife IsValuesI BelieveEnemySocietyCapitalismAreasThreatFortuneDemocraticFinancialSpreadCommunistCapitalistDemocratic SocietyLaissez FaireFinancial MarketsLaissez Faire Capitalism
Author:George Soros
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“In 2012, the far-right Golden Dawn won 21 seats in Greece's parliamentary election, the right-wing Jobbik gained ground in my native Hungary, and the National Front's Marine Le Pen received strong backing in France's presidential election. Growing support for similar forces across Europe points to an inescapable conclusion: the continent's prolonged financial crisis is creating a crisis of values that is now threatening the European Union itself.”

ValuesStrongForceMoneySupportGrowingFrontsCreatingEuropeElectionCrisisWingsUnionsFinancialGoldenConclusionFranceDawnPresidentialSeatsNativePensContinentsThreateningMarineGreeceRight WingEuropean UnionFinancial CrisisPresidential ElectionParliamentaryHungary
Author:George Soros
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