Capitalism knows only one color: that color is green; all else is necessarily subservient to it, hence, race, gender and ethnicity cannot be considered within it
—Thomas Sowell (b.1930) American Conservative Economist, Political Commentator
A gardener who cultivates his own garden with his own hands, unites in his own person the three different characters, of landlord, farmer, and labourer. His produce, therefore, should pay him the rent of the first, the profit of the second, and the wages of the third.
—George Goodman (b.1930) American Economist, Author
Predatory capitalism created a complex industrial system and an advanced technology; it permitted a considerable extension of democratic practice and fostered certain liberal values, but within limits that are now being pressed and must be overcome. It is not a fit system for the mid-twentieth century.
—Noam Chomsky (b.1928) American Linguist, Social Critic
Capitalism justified itself and was adopted as an economic principle on the express ground that it provides selfish motives for doing good, and that human beings will do nothing except for selfish motives
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The most eloquent eulogy of capitalism was made by its greatest enemy. Marx is only anti-capitalist in so far as capitalism is out of date.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Novelist
The ideology of capitalism makes us all into connoisseurs of liberty—of the indefinite expansion of possibility.
—Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American Writer, Philosopher
The market is not an invention of capitalism. It has existed for centuries. It s an invention of civilization.
—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–2022) Soviet Head of State
The decadent international but individualistic capitalism in the hands of which we found ourselves after the war is not a success. It is not intelligent. It is not beautiful. It is not just. It is not virtuous. And it doesn’t deliver the goods.
—John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) English Economist
What kind of society isn’t structured on greed? The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm; capitalism is that kind of a system.
—Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American Economist
The Internet will help achieve “friction free capitalism” by putting buyer and seller in direct contact and providing more information to both about each other.
—Bill Gates (b.1955) American Businessperson, Entrepreneur, Author, Philanthropist
Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher
Capitalism is our only moral system. All other systems take advantage of man’s rights and liberties.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher
Under capitalism man exploits man; under socialism the reverse is true
—Polish Proverb
In civilized society man stands at all times in need of the cooperation and assistance of great multitudes, while his whole life is scarce sufficient to gain the friendship of a few persons… . Man has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren, and it is in vain for him to expect it from their benevolence only. He will be more likely to prevail if he can interest their self-love in his favour, and show them that it is for their own advantage to do for him what he requires of them. Whoever offers to another a bargain of any kind, proposes to do this. Give me that which I want, and you shall have this which you want, is the meaning of every such offer; and it is in this manner that we obtain from one another the far greater part of those good offices which we stand in need of. It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest… . Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow citizens.
—George Goodman (b.1930) American Economist, Author
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
I was guilty of judging capitalism by its operations and socialism by its hopes and aspirations; capitalism by its works and socialism by its literature.
—Sidney Hook (1902–89) American Social Philosopher, Educationalist
The call for free markets would be more successful if it came from more sympathetic people.
—Gerhard Kocher (b.1939) Swiss Publicist, Aphorist
Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Capitalism is based on self-interest and self-esteem; it holds integrity and trustworthiness as cardinal virtues and makes them pay off in the marketplace, thus demanding that men survive by means of virtue, not vices. It is this superlatively moral system that the welfare statists propose to improve upon by means of preventative law, snooping bureaucrats, and the chronic goad of fear.
—Alan Greenspan (b.1926) American Economist
The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens.
—John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) English Economist
I believe totally in a Capitalist System, I only wish that someone would try it.
—Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) American Architect
The evolution of the capitalist style of life could be easily—and perhaps most tellingly—described in terms of the genesis of the modern Lounge Suit.
—Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950) Austrian-American Political Economist, Sociologist
It is impossible for capitalism to survive, primarily because the system of capitalism needs some blood to suck. Capitalism used to be like an eagle, but now it’s more like a vulture. It used to be strong enough to go and suck anybody’s blood whether they were strong or not. But now it has become more cowardly, like the vulture, and it can only suck the blood of the helpless. As the nations of the world free themselves, the capitalism has less victims, less to suck, and it becomes weaker and weaker. It’s only a matter of time in my opinion before it will collapse completely.
—Malcolm X (1925–65) American Civil Rights Leader
And while the law of ‘competition’ may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.
—Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) Scottish-American Industrialist
The cure for capitalism’s failing would require that a government would have to rise above the interests of one class alone.
—Robert Heilbroner (1919–2005) American Economist, Historian
History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.
—Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American Economist
Some see private enterprise as a predatory target to be shot, others as a cow to be milked, but few see it as a sturdy horse pulling the wagon.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as any other rights.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Publicity is the life of this culture, in so far as without publicity capitalism could not survive, and at the same time publicity is its dream.
—John Berger (1926–2017) English Art Critic, Novelist
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