Home / Authors / William Stanley Jevons

William Stanley Jevons Quotes

Economist

William Stanley Jevons was a British economist born on September 1, 1835, and died on August 13, 1882. He was a pioneer in the theory of marginal utility and had a profound impact on the development of economics.

Filter quotes by topic

All Economics Science Labour Utility Men Theory Economist Facts Mathematical Mathematics May Objects Branches Calculus Economy Giving Ifs Knowledge Littles Logic

Famous William Stanley Jevons Quotes

“I used to think I should like to be a bookbinder or bookseller it seemed to me a most delightful trade and I wished or thought of nothing better. More lately I thought I should be a minister, it seemed so serious and useful a profession, and I entered but little into the merits of religion and the duties of a minister. Every one dissuaded me from the notion, and before I arrived at any age to require a real decision, science had claimed me.”

Thinking Should Littles Real Age Used Decision Serious Duty Trade Notion Profession Ministers Merit Delightful Booksellers

Author:William Stanley Jevons

“A little experience is worth much argument; a few facts are better than any theory.”

Littles Facts Theory Argument

Book:Methods of Social Reform: And Other Papers

Source: Methods of Social Reform: And Other Papers

“There is no such thing as absolute cost of labour; it is all a matter of comparison. Every one gets the most which he can for his exertions; some can get little or nothing, because they have not sufficient strength, knowledge or ingenuity; others get much, because they have, comparatively speaking, a monopoly of certain powers.”

Littles Matter Certain Cost Absolutes Sufficient Labour Comparison Monopoly Ingenuity Exertion

Book:The Theory of Political Economy

Source: The Theory of Political Economy

“When quite young I can remember I had no thought or wish of surpassing others. I was rather taken with a liking of little arts and bits of learning. My mother carefully fostered a liking for botany, giving me a small microscope and many books, which I yet have. Strange as it may seem, I now believe that botany and the natural system, by exercising discrimination of kinds, is the best of logical exercises. What I may do in logic is perhaps derived from that early attention to botany.”