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George Soros Quotes
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George Soros is a Hungarian-American investor, business magnate, philanthropist, and author. Soros is one of the world's most successful investors. As of May 2017, he had a net worth of $25.2 billion, ranking among the 30 richest people in the world.

Born in Budapest, he survived Nazi Germany-occupied Hungary and emigrated to England in 1947. He attended the London School of Economics graduating with a bachelor's and eventually a master's in philosophy. He began his business career by taking various jobs at merchant banks in England and then the United States, before starting his first hedge fund, Double Eagle, in 1969. Profits from his first fund furnished the seed money to start Soros Fund Management, his second hedge fund, in 1970. Double Eagle was renamed the Quantum Fund and was the principal firm Soros advised. At its founding, the Quantum Fund had $12 million in assets under management, and as of 2011 it had $25 billion, the majority of his overall net worth. He is known as "The Man Who Broke the Bank of England" because of his short sale of US$10 billion worth of Pound sterling, making him a profit of $1 billion during the 1992 Black Wednesday UK currency crisis.

His early studies of philosophy led him to develop and apply Karl Popper's General Theory of Reflexivity to capital markets, which he claims renders him a clear picture of asset bubbles and fundamental/market value of securities, as well as value discrepancies used for shorting and swapping stocks.

He is a well-known supporter of American progressive and American liberal political causes and dispenses his donations through his foundation, the Open Society Foundations. Between 1979 and 2011, Soros donated more than $11 billion to various philanthropic causes; by 2017, his donations "on civil initiatives to reduce poverty and increase transparency, and on scholarships and universities around the world" totaled $12 billion. He played a significant role in the peaceful transition from communism to capitalism in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and provided one of Europe's largest higher education endowments to the Central European University in his hometown. His political philanthropy has made him a "bugaboo of European nationalists."

✵ 12. August 1930   •   Other names جرج سوروس
George Soros photo
George Soros: 99   quotes 15   likes

George Soros Quotes

“President Bush has shown that he is incapable of recognizing his mistakes. He insists on making reality conform to his beliefs even at the cost of deceiving himself and deliberately deceiving the public. There is something appealing in the strength of his faith, especially in our troubled time. But the cost is too high. By putting our faith in a President who cannot admit his mistakes we commit ourselves to the wrong policies.”

George Soros

Speech at the National Press Club (2004)

Faith , Reality , Time

“The Bush administration is once again in the process of committing a major policy blunder in the Middle East … Hamas won the elections in an upset victory. Then came the blunder I am talking about. Israel, with the strong backing of the United States, refused to recognize the democratically elected Hamas government.”

George Soros

On Israel, America and AIPAC (2007)

Strong , Victory

“Well, you know, I was a human being before I became a businessman.”

George Soros

Interview with Mark Shapiro (2000)

“The people currently in charge have forgotten the first principle of an open society, namely that we may be wrong and that there has to be free discussion. That it's possible to be opposed to the policies without being unpatriotic.”

George Soros

Interview with David Brancaccio (2003)

People

“The global crisis is caused by pathologies inherent in the global financial system itself.”

George Soros

The Crisis of Global Capitalism (1998)

“My position is that America is great precisely because it is an open society, and an open society recognizes that nobody is the ultimate arbiter — and that we may be wrong at times, even if we are powerful. We must be open to criticism and respect divergent and different views and interests.”

George Soros

BuzzFlash interview (2004)

Time

“The pro-Israel lobby has been remarkably successful in suppressing criticism. Politicians challenge it at their peril because of the lobby's ability to influence political contributions. … Following his criticism of repressive Israeli policy on the West Bank, former president Jimmy Carter has suffered the loss of some of the financial backers of his center.”

George Soros

On Israel, America and AIPAC (2007)

Suffering , Loss , Success

“We have a booming global economy but we don't have a global society. Markets reduce everything, including human beings and nature, to commodities. Societies need more than this to prosper — such goals as political freedom and social justice.”

George Soros

Marshall William Fishwick in Popular Culture: Cavespace to Cyberspace (1999)
Misattributed

Justice , Nature , Freedom

“Companies earn their profits by exploiting their environment. Mining and oil companies exploit the physical environment; social media companies exploit the social environment. This is particularly nefarious because social media companies influence how people think and behave without them even being aware of it.”

George Soros

Remarks delivered at the World Economic Forum https://www.georgesoros.com/2018/01/25/remarks-delivered-at-the-world-economic-forum/ (25 January 2018)

People , Thinking

“I advocate an alliance of democratic states, with a dual purpose. One, to promote what I call open society. I talk about an alliance of open societies which would first foster the development of open societies within individual countries, because there's a lot that needs to be done in that effort. And secondly, to establish basic international law and international institutions that you need for a global, open society. So that's my sort of broad concept. Now, I have not worked out the details, because I don't think it's for me to work out the details. It's for them to work out the details.”

George Soros

Interview with Mark Shapiro (2000)

Law , Thinking , Effort , Country

“The nation is deeply divided and the two camps seem to be talking past each other. John Kerry won all three debates but President Bush invokes his faith and that inspires his followers. In the end, it boils down to a philosophical difference over how to deal with an often confusing and threatening reality.”

George Soros

Speech at the National Press Club (2004)

Faith , Reality , Past

“Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected.”

George Soros

As quoted in "Great Money Minds" by Chris Stallman at TeenAnalyst.com (5 May 2005) http://www.teenanalyst.com/general/topmoneyminds.html

Money

“I grew up in Hungary, lived through fascism and the Holocaust, and then had a foretaste of communism. I learned at an early age how important it is what kind of government prevails. I chose America as my home because I value freedom and democracy, civil liberties and an open society. When I had made more money than I needed for myself and my family, I set up a foundation to promote the values and principles of a free and open society.”

George Soros

Why We Must Not Reelect President Bush (2004)

Money , Age , Family , Democracy

“You know, these things interested me before I became a businessman and I kind of neglected them during twenty, twenty-five years, while I was engaged in making money, because running a hedge fund takes, you know, a hundred percent of your attention on Saturday morning, and so I didn't get involved in these issues very much. It's only when I was rather successful at it and I've made enough money for my personal needs and to look after my family that we established this interest and, by now, it is more important to me than my business.”

George Soros

Interview with Mark Shapiro (2000)

Money , Family , Business , Success

“The war on terror is an abstraction. But the terrorists are real people and they are not all alike. Most of the people attacking our soldiers in Iraq originally had nothing to do with al Qaeda. They have been generated by the policies of the Bush administration. We have been spared a terrorist attack at home but it is quite a stretch to attribute that to the invasion of Iraq. The insurrection in Iraq, however, is a somber reality and it doesn't make us safer at home. Our security, far from improving as President Bush claims, is deteriorating.”

George Soros

Speech at the National Press Club (2004)

War , People , Home , Reality

“I used to be opposed to the idea of social entrepreneurship. I said, you know, let business be business, and philanthropy be philanthropy. Keep the two separate, don't mix it up, and this is what I did, and I did that rather successfully, but I now recognize that actually you do need to mix it up and I think there is room for social entrepreneurship.”

George Soros

Interview with Mark Shapiro (2000)

Idea , Business , Thinking

“A full and fair discussion is essential to democracy.”

George Soros

Why We Must Not Reelect President Bush (2004)

Democracy

“The truth is, successful investing is a kind of alchemy.”

George Soros

The Alchemy of Finance: Reading the mind of the Market (1987)

Truth , Success

“I think there's a lot of merit in an international economy and global markets, but they're not sufficient because markets don't look after social needs. Markets are designed to allow individuals to look after their private needs and to pursue profit. It's really a great invention and I wouldn't under-estimate the value of that, but they're not designed to take care of social needs.”

George Soros

Interview with Mark Shapiro (2000)

Thinking

“The bureaucratic method of building an integrated Europe has exhausted its potential.”

George Soros

"Can Europe Work? A Plan to Rescue the Union" in Foreign Affairs (September/October 1996)

“I think he's a man of good intentions. I don't doubt it. But I think he's leading us in the wrong direction.”

George Soros

On George W. Bush
Interview with David Brancaccio (2003)

Thinking

“Faith plays an important role in an open society. Exactly because our understanding is imperfect, we cannot base our decisions on knowledge alone. We need to rely on beliefs, religious or otherwise, to help us make decisions. But we must remain open to the possibility that we may be wrong so that we can correct our mistakes. Otherwise, we are bound to be wrong.”

George Soros

Speech at the National Press Club (2004)

Faith , Understanding , Knowledge , Decision

“I argue that it's appropriate for people to pursue their profit motive in business. If you want to change that, you're going against human nature. But when it comes to setting the rules or creating the institutions, then you should have the general interest at heart, even if it conflicts with your personal interest.”

George Soros

Interview with Mark Shapiro (2000)

People , Motivation , Business , Nature

“I made two major discoveries in the course of writing: one is a reflexive connection between credit and collateral; the other is a reflexive relationship between regulators and the economies they regulate”

George Soros

The Alchemy of Finance: Reading the mind of the Market (1987)

“I find the idea that you can introduce democracy by military force a very quaint idea. Moreover, if I wanted to choose a testing ground for doing it, Iraq would be the last nation I would choose.”

George Soros

BuzzFlash interview (2004)

Democracy , Idea

“The act of lending can change the value of the collateral”

George Soros

The Alchemy of Finance: Reading the mind of the Market (1987)

Change

“I have been crisscrossing the country for the last three weeks arguing against the reelection of President Bush. I feel strongly that he has led us in the wrong direction. The invasion of Iraq was a colossal blunder and only by rejecting the President at the polls can we hope to escape from the quagmire in which we find ourselves.”

George Soros

Speech at the National Press Club (2004)

Hope , Feeling , Country

“I give away something up to $500 million a year throughout the world promoting Open Society. My foundations support people in the country who care about an open society. It's their work that I'm supporting. So it's not me doing it. But I can empower them. I can support them, and I can help them.”

George Soros

Interview with David Brancaccio (2003)

People , World , Support , Help

“This is the most important election of my lifetime. I have never been heavily involved in partisan politics but these are not normal times. President Bush is endangering our safety, hurting our vital interests and undermining American values. That is why I am publishing this message. I have been demonized by the Bush campaign but I hope you will give me a hearing.”

George Soros

Why We Must Not Reelect President Bush (2004)

Hope , Time , Hurt

“The invasion of Afghanistan was justified: that was where bin Laden lived and al Qaeda had its training camps. The invasion of Iraq was not similarly justified. It was President Bush's unintended gift to bin Laden.”

George Soros

Why We Must Not Reelect President Bush (2004)
Context: President Bush inadvertently played right into the hands of bin Laden. The invasion of Afghanistan was justified: that was where bin Laden lived and al Qaeda had its training camps. The invasion of Iraq was not similarly justified. It was President Bush's unintended gift to bin Laden.

Training

“I'm not doing my philanthropic work, out of any kind of guilt, or any need to create good public relations. I'm doing it because I can afford to do it, and I believe in it.”

George Soros

Interview with David Brancaccio (2003)

“China isn’t the only authoritarian regime in the world, but it’s undoubtedly the wealthiest, strongest and most developed in machine learning and artificial intelligence. This makes Xi Jinping the most dangerous opponent of those who believe in the concept of open society.”

George Soros

On China (2019)

World , Intelligence , Making love , Learning

“I consider Xi Jinping the most dangerous enemy of open societies in the world.”

George Soros

Tweet 16 August 2021 https://twitter.com/georgesoros/status/1427244353714544644

World

“I think that I am being blamed for everything. I am basically there to make money. I cannot and do not look at the social consequences of what I do.”

George Soros

60 Minutes interview (1998)

Money , Thinking