Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,161,747 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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“Man cannot live on charm alone, and an ambitious man cannot live on anything less than wealth, good social connections and substantial political influence.”
Susan Howatch (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I shouldn’t be naive” Diana said. “Of course, realising its destructive power only makes them want it more. Of course. Even more than great wealth, power craves technologies of destruction. Good to be wealthy, but better to remain in power—and the more awe-inspiring the weaponry at your disposal, the better able you are to do that.”
Adam Roberts (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Since the God of the Christians blessed and rewarded toil, there was nothing, surely, to prevent him from approving the effort of the bourgeois. True, the bourgeois' wealth was often far from being the product of his own labor, but he always liked be told that it was, and if he was to be made a Christian it was necessary to insist on this point.”
Bernard Groethuysen (1880–1946) said by 1946 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the religious age, the religious hierarchy wields power; in the political age, the ruler, nobles and commoners; in the economic, the hierarchy of wealth. The development of Europe during the last six centuries has consisted in the progressive shifting of the hierarchy of power from one set of functions to another. (p. 132)”
Lancelot Law Whyte (1896–1972) said by 1972 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whatever happens, it's time to bury neoliberalism. We need genuine wealth + power redistribution. Only a real left can fight fascism.”
Naomi Klein (born 1970) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nov 8 2016 on Twitter
“Those could be the famous last words of a one-term president, having wildly underestimated the public appetite for transformative action on the triple crises of our time: imminent ecological unraveling, gaping economic inequality (including the racial and gender wealth divide), and surging white supremacy.”
Naomi Klein (born 1970) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Battle Lines Have Been Drawn on the Green New Deal, The Intercept, (13 February 2019)
“Like so much of cool hunting, Hilfiger's marketing journey feeds off the alienation at the heart of America's race relations: selling white youth on their fetishization of black style, and black youth on their fetishization of white wealth.”
Naomi Klein (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If wealth, power, and income continue to concentrate at the very tippy top, our society will change from a capitalist democracy to a neo-feudalist rentier society like 18th-century France. That was France before the revolution and the mobs with the pitchforks.”
Nick Hanauer (born 1959) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Beware fellow plutocrats, the pitchforks are coming" TED (conference) August 2014
“Zuma ... stands in the way towards acquiring land for our people. That is why we will continue attacking him, ... We are at war with whites who took our land and we now want it back. We want our land and we want our wealth; if you stand in our way we will crush you, ...”
Julius Malema (born 1981) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To about 800 supporters at the Edendale Lay Ecumenical Centre hall on 29 May 2016, Zuma will be forgiven for Nkandla if he acts on land issue: Malema (30 May 2016)
“It is clear, by their own account, and therefore requires no further proof, that the apostles and all the disciples were induced by ambitious motives, by hopes of future wealth and power, lands and worldly goods, to follow Jesus as their Messiah and king.”
Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694–1768) said by 1768 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Various sociopolitical movements are oriented to the nostrums of ‘social justice,’ favoring entitlements for all those with economic disparity. They struggle for what is scientifically impossible: equality of outcome. They want everyone to end up with the same amount of wealth—billions of people all possessing the same numerical affluence.”
L. K. Samuels (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Smith's claim that the selfish human urge... is the basis for collective wealth is one of the most revolutionary.., not just from an economic... but... more so from a moral and political perspective. ...Smith says.., greed is good, and... by becoming richer I benefit everybody... is altruism.”
Yuval Noah Harari (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“California['s] wealth was initially built on gold mines. But today it is... and ― Silicon Valley and the celluloid hills of Hollywood.”
Yuval Noah Harari (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Without this form of social technology, the industrialized countries of the West could not have reached the heights of extravagance, wealth and pollution that they currently enjoy.”
Charles Perrow (1925–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If both a legal rule and its opposite can be efficient because neither affected party can induce the other to waive the initially assigned rights, then either seems to be wealth maximizing.”
Steven Kelman (born 1948) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Steven Kelman, Making public policy: A hopeful view of American government. Basic Books, 1987. p. 145
“He seemed to be witnessing with his own eyes the supreme bankruptcy of humanity. Wealth had spoken the truth that night on the mountain.”
Gabrielle Roy (1909–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The great vice of democracy – a vice which is exacting a bitter retribution from it at this moment – is that for a generation we have been busy getting ourselves on to the list of beneficiaries and removing ourselves from the list of contributors, as if somewhere there was somebody else’s wealth and somebody else’s effort on which we could thrive.”
Robert Menzies (1894–1978) first seen 1942 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Forgotten People" radio talk (22 May 1942)
“By exploiting material wealth confiscated and plundered in a racial war, Hitler’s National Socialism achieved an unprecedented level of economic equality and created vast new opportunities for upward mobility for the German people.”
“Nature gives beauty, fortune wealth, in vain.”
Edward Fairfax (1580–1635) said by 1635 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Trump obviously never meant to impose a wealth test on his administration, or he would have failed it himself. He is proof that a fortune isn’t necessarily an obstacle to being a champion of an agenda of populist reform.”
Rich Lowry (born 1968) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wealth has never yet sacrificed itself on the altar of patriotism.”
Robert M. La Follette Sr. (1855–1925) first seen 1917 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: La Follette Fights for Higher War Tax", New York Times (August 22, 1917)
“Over the five, ten, twenty-five year time horizon, just by simple demographics and wealth, as well as by the internal system in that country, China presents the greatest challenge that the United States will face in the medium to long-term.”
Mike Pompeo (born 1963) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pompeo: China Is Biggest Threat to the United States, Breitbart, (10 December 2018)
“In Western Europe since Roman times, private property was considered sacrosanct. The principle enunciated by the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca that kings rule by the will of the people became fundamental to Western civilization, together with private property, which was the main source of productive wealth.”
Richard Pipes (1923–2018) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Property and Freedom: The Inseparable Connection,” speech at an “Evenings at FEE” event, October 2004.
“I do not believe that the present flowering of science is due in the least to a real appreciation of the beauty and intellectual discipline of the subject. It is due simply to the fact that power, wealth and prestige can only be obtained by the correct application of science.”
Derek Barton (1918–1998) first seen 1963 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Derek Barton, Some Reflections on the Present Status of Organic Chemistry, in Science and Human Progress: Addresses at the Celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of the Mellon Institute (1963), 90.
“No, wealth isn’t created at the top. It is merely devoured there.”
Rutger Bregman (born 1988) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Think back a minute to the definition of a rentier: someone who uses their control over something that already exists in order to increase their own wealth. The feudal lord of medieval times did that by building a tollgate along a road and making everybody who passed by pay. Today’s tech giants are doing basically the same thing, but transposed to the digital highway.”
Rutger Bregman (born 1988) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If we had true democracy in Korea, then the collusive intimacy between business and government and corruption would not have been as great here. And the wealth would not have been allocated to only a few people. Usually the dictatorship or authoritarian style of government lies to people.”
Kim Dae-jung (1924–2009) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Kim Blasts Regimes That 'Lie'" in The Washington Post (9 January 1999)
“The Arabs made a profession of robbing and murdering the non-Muslims in the name of Allah, but they called it jihad. Egypt and Iran were the early casualties. It was the pillaged wealth and abducted daughters and sisters of the foreign nations which lent the golden touch to this Arab era.”
Anwar Shaikh (1928–2006) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Anwar Shaikh, Islam, The Arab National Movement, p. 54. quoted from Lal, K. S. (1999). Theory and practice of Muslim state in India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan.
“Women are attracted to men's ability to generate, to be productive, and to share. These qualities transcend wealth, which can disappear.”
Jordan Peterson (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Not beauty, wealth, or lineage e'er could raise A woman's name (he said) to height of praise, If not in action chaste.”
John Hoole (1727–1803) said by 1803 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The resources would have to come from that absurd wall project. The city was too big to surround effectively. The project could not be justified. It was a tool for transferring the wealth of the state to a few individuals.”
“Whatever the virtue may be, from whatever source it may come, it is worthy of esteem... Mind, beauty, wealth, nobility, although the children of chance, all have their own value, as skill, learning and virtue have theirs.”
Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709–1751) said by 1751 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To take away to-day from England her steam-engines would be to take away at the same time her coal and iron. It would be to dry up all her sources of wealth, to ruin all on which her prosperity depends, in short, to annihilate that colossal power.”
Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (1796–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Men live by production, but the State lives by appropriation. While the haves and the have-nots struggle over the division of existing wealth, it is the business of the State to improve itself at the expense of both; it picks up the marbles while the boys are fighting. That has been the story of men in organized society since the beginning.”
Frank Chodorov (1887–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Economics is not politics. One is a science, concerned with the immutable and constant laws of nature that determine the production and distribution of wealth; the other is the art of ruling.”
Frank Chodorov (1887–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Neither thieves nor officials produce a marketable good to offset what they take; they contribute nothing to the purchasing power because they contribute nothing to the general fund of wealth.”
Frank Chodorov (1887–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The more people are free, the greater their human development and national wealth. In short, freedom is the way to economic and social human security.”
Rudolph Rummel (1932–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom produces wealth and prosperity.”
Rudolph Rummel (1932–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In Singapore, house renovation had only one goal — to convey wealth. He had seen houses that appeared huge, with a vast amount of road frontage, only to pass by another day using another route and discover that the same house was narrower than a long boat.”
Shamini Flint (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This shows that those who attack us are not concerned with the indigenous human being, but with the mineral wealth and biodiversity in these areas. The United Nations has played a key role in overcoming colonialism and cannot accept this mentality to return to these halls and corridors under any pretext.”
Jair Bolsonaro (born 1955) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the 74th UN General Assembly. Statement by Mr. Jair Messias Bolsonaro, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil. United Nations PaperSmart (24 September 2019).
“People are ready for change. They want to see workers paid a ; they want corporations and the to pay more tax; they want women workers to enjoy the same rights as men; they want a limit on the power and the wealth which sits in the hands of so few. They want action.”
Winnie Byanyima (born 1959) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Richest 1 percent bagged 82 percent of wealth created last year - poorest half of humanity got nothing, (22 January 2018)
“Everywhere the masses are on the move, everywhere there is rebellion against authority, the negation of all religion, the generation of hatred and envy against those with wealth. We are probably facing major catastrophes.”
Alfred von Waldersee (1832–1904) first seen 1886 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Waldersee in his diary c. 1886, quoted in John C. G. Röhl, The Kaiser and his court : Wilhelm II and the government of Germany
“[...] knowledge is our greatest wealth and the love of others the most beautiful human value.”
Jacques Dubochet (born 1942) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Source, in French: Jacques Dubochet, Parcours, Éditions Rosso, 2018, page 9 (ISBN 9782940560097).
“Weigh then your wealth, and judge if it’s more dear To you than life. If not, your course is clear.”
Michael Shea (1946–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Truth and Virtue do not necessarily belong to wealth and Power and Distinctions of Big Mansions.”
Ram Mohan Roy (1772–1833) said by 1833 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted from Goel, S. R. (2016). History of Hindu-Christian encounters, AD 304 to 1996. Chapter 8 ISBN 9788185990354
“For this was the real desert where differences of race and colour, of wealth and social standing, are almost meaningless; where coverings of pretence are stripped away and basic truths emerge.”
Wilfred Thesiger (1910–2003) said by 2003 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now that the Arabs are among the economic masters of the world I fear that many will find unendurable the boredome of their wealth.”
Wilfred Thesiger (1910–2003) said by 2003 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Human history is a record of struggles between those who save and those who spend, between producers and consumers. These struggles have sometimes assumed the character of civil wars. It is the case of one tribe wanting to appropriate the more fertile soil and wealth of another tribe, or else within the same tribe, the have-nots wanting to expropriate the haves.”
Jacques Bainville (1879–1936) first seen 1931 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Paraboles hyperboliques (1931), p. 95, quoted in William R. Keylor, Jacques Bainville and the Renaissance of Royalist History in Twentieth-Century France (1979), p. 182
“Want real socialism? Look at Venezuela, an oil-exporting nation that is now dead broke even as the family of its socialist dictator, Hugo Chavez, reportedly somehow inherited billions at his death in 2013. Redistribution of wealth often seems to involve redistributing most of it to the people on top of the socialist pyramid.”
Glenn Reynolds (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In America the place of the monarchs is filled by the monopolists. ... All the wealth of this great republic, although established but a century, its mines, its coalfields, its oilwells, etc., etc., has been "taken" from the people and is the property of a handful of daring adventurers and cunning schemers.”
Johann Most (1846–1906) said by 1906 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source