Quotessence
Home / Authors / John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth Galbraith

John Kenneth Galbraith Quotes

Economist

Filter quotes by topic

AllEconomyMenPeopleEconomicsEconomicIfsPoliticsWorldPoliticalCapitalism

Famous John Kenneth Galbraith Quotes

“If anything is evident about people who manage money, it is that the task attracts a very low level of talent, one that is protected in its highly imperfect profession by the mystery that is thought to enfold the subject of economics in general and of money in particular.”

PeopleIfsLevelsMoneyMysterySubjectsTalentParticularLowsEconomicsTasksProfessionManageImperfectProtectedEvidentLow Level
Book:Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went
Create image

“The traveler to the United States will do wellto prepare himself for the class-consciousness of the natives. This differs from the already familiar English version in being more extreme and based more firmly on the conviction that the class to which the speaker belongs is inherently superior to all others.”

StatesUnitedConsciousnessClassUnited StatesConvictionExtremesFamiliarSuperiorsVersionsSpeakersTravelerClass Consciousness
Author:John Kenneth Galbraith
Create image

“In the old days, land was important as the giver of all things. That period is gone now. Technology and brainpower are all that matters and yet conflicts over land, specially one like on the India-China border, that yields nothing, continue. This is a burden of ancient history that we continue to carry. If tomorrow there is settlement on planet Mars, we will begin to worry if others are interested.”

IfsImportantMatterPoliticsTechnologyWorryGoneLandPlanetsTomorrowPeriodsConflictAll ThingsIndiaAncientBurdenChinaBordersYieldMarsGiverOld DaysSettlementAncient History
Author:John Kenneth Galbraith
Create image

“Technology, under all circumstances, leads to planning; in its higher manifestations it may put the problems of planning beyond the reach of the industrial firm. Technological compulsions, and not ideology or political will, will require the firm to seek the help and protection of the state.”

MayStatesHelpingProblemPoliticalPoliticsTechnologyHigherCircumstancesProtectionPlanningIdeologyFirmManifestationTechnologicalCompulsionPolitical Will
Author:John Kenneth Galbraith
Create image

“There are a significant number of learned men and women who hold that any successful effort to make ideas lively, intelligible and interesting is a manifestation of deficient scholarship. This is the fortress behind which the minimally coherent regularly find refuge.”

MenIdeasInterestingNumbersEffortBehindsSuccessfulMen And WomenSignificantManifestationRefugeScholarshipLivelyFortressesSignificant Numbers
Book:Economics in Perspective: A Critical History
Create image

“Meetings are held because men seek companionship or, at a minimum, wish to escape the tedium of solitary duties. They yearn for the prestige which accrues to the man who presides over meetings, and this leads them to convoke assemblages over which they can preside. Finally, there is the meeting which is called not because there is business to be done, but because it is necessary to create the impression that business is being done. Such meetings are more than a substitute for action. They are widely regarded as action.”

MenDoneActionWishHe ManDutyMeetingsImpressionSubstitutesSolitaryMinimumCompanionshipPrestigeBeing DoneTediumAssemblage
Book:THE GREAT CRASH 1929
Create image

“Over the span of man's history, although a phenomenal amount of education, persuasion, indoctrination and incantation have been devoted to the effort, ordinary people have never been quite persuaded that toil is as agreeable as its alternatives. Thus to take increased well-being partly in the form of more goods and partly in the form of more leisure is unquestionably rational.”

PeopleMenWellsHas BeensFormEffortAmountOrdinaryRationalAlternativesWell BeingGoodsLeisureDevotedToilPersuasionOrdinary PeoplePhenomenalIndoctrination
Book:The affluent society
Create image

“Complexity and obscurity have professional value - they are the academic equivalents of apprenticeship rules in the building trades. They exclude the outsiders, keep down the competition, preserve the image of a privileged or priestly class. The man who makes things clear is a scab. He is criticized less for his clarity than for his treachery.”

MenValuesClassClearBuildingHe ManTradeCompetitionClarityPreservesComplexityAcademicOutsidersPrivilegedObscurityTreacheryApprenticeshipScabs
Book:Annals of an Abiding Liberal
Create image

“Get the process of negotiation away from the small specialized group that some people have called the "nuclear theologians" ... Only a few people can understand the nature of these weapons ... This kept the whole discussion to a very limited group of people who, in a way, had assumed responsibility for saying whether we should live or die.”

PeopleWayShouldWholeDiesProcessResponsibilityGroupsWeaponsNuclearDiscussionNegotiationTheologian
Author:John Kenneth Galbraith
Create image

“I was in charge of price controls in World War II and had a ceiling on overall prices. Everybody who was subject to general maximum price regulation wanted an exception and went to Congress to persuade a Congressman, or a group of people on the Hill, that I was being a menace to their industry.”

PeopleWorldWarWantedGroupsSubjectsIndustryCongressHillsWar Of The WorldsExceptionWorld War IiRegulationWorld War IMaximumCeilingsMenaceCongressman
Author:John Kenneth Galbraith
Create image