“In theory, everybody buys the best and cheapest commodities offered to him on the market. In practice, if every one went around pricing, and chemically testing before purchasing, the dozens of soaps or fabrics or brands of bread which are for sale, economic life would become hopelessly jammed.”
Source: Propaganda (1928), p. 39
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Edward Bernays 28
American public relations consultant, marketing pioneer 1891–1995Related quotes
1920s, Whose Country Is This? (1921)
Philip Kotler (1999), as cited in: Dennis Adcock, Al Halborg, Caroline Ross (2001), Marketing: Principles and Practice. p. 208
As quoted in Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist (1995), by Roger Lowenstein, p. 77
Source: 1930s- 1950s, The End of Economic Man (1939), p. 84
Source: Europe and the People Without History, 1982, Chapter 12 The New Laborers, p. 354.
“A good teacher offers practice, a bad one offers theories.”
Cultivation
One Minute Wisdom (1989)
Industrial Democracy, written with Beatrice Webb (1902) 842
“One test of good theory is that it have practical implications.”
Source: 1970s, Organizational Analysis: A Sociological View, 1970, p. vii
Context: It is surprising how much discipline is imposed upon theory by requiring that it ‘make a difference’ and provide guidance or useful illumination. I learned long ago from students in professional schools that questions of ‘so what’ or ‘what relevance does this have’ do not signify impatience with theory per se, much less anti-intellectualism, but only impatience with the obvious, general, remote, and vague statements that often parade as social science theory. One test of good theory is that it have practical implications.