William Graham Sumner Quotes

What we prepare for is what we shall get.

We throw all our attention on the utterly idle question whether A has done as well as B, when the only question is whether A has done as well as he could.

We are to see the development of the country pushed forward at an unprecedented rate by an aggregation of capital, and a systematic application of it under the direction of competent men.

Undoubtedly there are, in connection with each of these things, cases of fraud, swindling, and other financial crimes; that is to say, the greed and selfishness of men are perpetual.

There ought to be no laws to guarantee property against the folly of its possessors.

There is every indication that we are to see new developments of the power of aggregated capital to serve civilization, and that the new developments will be made right here in America.

Then, again, the ability to organize and conduct industrial, commercial, or financial enterprises is rare; the great captains of industry are as rare as great generals.

The waste of capital, in proportion to the total capital, in this country between 1800 and 1850, in the attempts which were made to establish means of communication and transportation, was enormous.

The men who start out with the notion that the world owes them a living generally find that the world pays its debt in the penitentiary or the poor house.

The great hinderance to the development of this continent has lain in the lack of capital.

The forgotten man… He works, he votes, generally he prays, but his chief business in life is to pay.

The criminal law needs to be improved to meet new forms of crime, but to denounce financial devices which are useful and legitimate because use is made of them for fraud, is ridiculous and unworthy of the age in which we live.

The aggregation of large fortunes is not at all a thing to be regretted.

Perhaps they do not recognize themselves, for a rich man is even harder to define than a poor one.

One thing must be granted to the rich: they are goodnatured.

Moreover, there is an unearned increment on capital and on labor, due to the presence, around the capitalist and the laborer, of a great, industrious, and prosperous society.

Men of routine or men who can do what they are told are not hard to find; but men who can think and plan and tell the routine men what to do are very rare.