John Kenneth Galbraith Quotes

Liberalism is, I think, resurgent. One reason is that more and more people are so painfully aware of the alternative.

There are few ironclad rules of diplomacy but to one there is no exception. When an official reports that talks were useful, it can safely be concluded that nothing was accomplished.

A [New Yorker ] is what it has always been. It combines those who pursue the truth with those who pursue the rewards of orthodoxy and those who pursue what is comfortable to the rich.

Money differs from an automobile or mistress in being equally important to those who have it and those who do not.

Economics exists to make astrology look respectable.

When people put their ballots in the boxes, they are, by that act, inoculated against the feeling that the government is not theirs. They then accept, in some measure, that its errors are their errors, its aberrations their aberrations, that any revolt will be against them. It's a remarkably shrewd and rather conservative arrangement when one thinks of it.

Commencement oratory must eschew anything that smacks of partisan politics, political preference, sex, religion or unduly firm opinion. Nonetheless, there must be a speech: Speeches in our culture are the vacuum that fills a vacuum.

There is certainly no absolute standard of beauty. That precisely is what makes its pursuit so interesting.

The urge to consume is fathered by the value system which emphasizes the ability of the society to produce.

It is almost as important to know what is not serious as to know what is.

Decision has greater virtue and force if taken after there has been eloquent dissent.

Foreign policy is conducted for the convenience and enjoyment of people in Washington.