“There is no man but for his own interest hath an obligation to be honest. There may be sometimes temptations to be otherwise; but, all cards cast up, he shall find it the greatest ease, the highest profit, the best pleasure, the most safety, and the noblest fame, to hold the horns of this altar, which, in all assays, can in himself protect him.” MenMaySometimesInterestPleasureHonestHonestyFameProtectHighestSafetyCastsProfitObligationCardsTemptationBeing HonestEaseHornsAltars Author:Owen Feltham
“Even with a margin of safety in the investor's favor, an individual security may work out badly. For the margin guarantees only that he has a better chance for profit than for loss - not that loss is impossible. But as the number of such commitments is increased the more certain does it become that the aggregate of the profits will exceed the aggregate of the losses.” MayDoeCertainIndividualChanceLossNumbersImpossibleSecurityCommitmentSafetyInvestingProfitWork OutFavorsGuaranteesInvestorsExceedMargins Author:Benjamin Graham
“Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it.” PeopleMenGovernmentInterestCommonClassHonorSafetyProfitProsperityProtectionReformOne ManInstituteCommon Good Book:The Political Writings of John Adams: Representative Selections Source: The Political Writings of John Adams: Representative Selections
“The art of banking is always to balance the risk of a run with the reward of a profit. The tantalizing factor in the equation is that riskier borrowers pay higher interest rates. Ultimate safety - a strongbox full of currency - would avail the banker nothing. Maximum risk - a portfolio of loans to prospective bankrupts at usurious interest rates - would invite disaster. A good banker safely and profitably treads the middle ground.” ArtRunningInterestPayRiskMiddleBalanceHigherUltimateSafetyRewardsRateProfitDisasterFactorsInvitesCurrencyEquationsBankingLoanMaximumBankersInterest RatePortfoliosMiddle GroundBorrowersTantalizing Author:James Grant
“One of the dangers about net-net investing is that if you buy a net-net that begins to lose money your net-net goes down and your capacity to be able to make a profit becomes less secure. So the trick is not necessarily to predict what the earnings are going to be but to have a clear conviction that the company isn't going bust and that your margin of safety will remain intact over time.” IfsAbleLosesCompanyClearDangerCapacityDown AndSafetyInvestingProfitConvictionTricksSecureEarningMargins Author:Peter Cundill
“The Superfund legislation set up a system of insurance premiums collected from the chemical industry to clean up toxic wastes. This new program may prove to be as far-reaching and important as any accomplishment of my administration. The reduction of the threat to America's health and safety from thousands of toxic-waste sites will continue to be an urgent but bitterly fought issue-another example for the conflict between the public welfare and the profits of a few private despoilers of our nation's environment.” MayImportantAmericaScienceNationsIssuesEnvironmentExampleHealthIndustryConflictProveWasteProgramSafetyThreatCleanEnvironmentalProfitAdministrationWelfareAccomplishmentReachingChemicalsToxicSiteLegislationUrgentReductionHealth And SafetyPublic WelfareToxic Waste Book:Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President Source: Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President
“So, I'm not impressed by BP's promises and I'm not ready to take the word of a company with a track record of pursuing profit over safety.” PoliticsCompanyRecordsReadyPromiseSafetyTrackProfitImpressedNot ReadyTrack RecordNot Impressed Author:Patty Murray
“A journalist is the lookout on the bridge of the ship of state. He notes the passing sail, the little things of interest that dot the horizon in fine weather. He reports the drifting castaway whom the ship can save. He peers through fog and storm to give warning of dangers ahead. He is not thinking of his wages or of the profits of his owners. He is there to watch over the safety and the welfare of the people who trust him.” PeopleThinkingGivingLittlesStatesInterestWatchesDangerFineSafetyNotesProfitStormPassingPassingsWeatherShipsJournalistBridgesWelfareReportsOwnersHorizonLittle ThingsWarningSailPeersWagesFogDotsDriftingCastawayFine Weather Author:Joseph Pulitzer
“We know that BP cuts safety corners, takes risks, and is unconcerned about anything other than their own profit.” KnowsCuttingRiskSafetyProfitCornersUnconcerned Author:Robert Greenwald
“When it comes to profit over safety, profit usually wins.” NaturalHumanSafetyProfitChemicalsSanitation Author:James Frazee