Source: The (Mis)Behavior of Markets (2004, 2008), Ch. 13, p. 254–255
Context: It is beyond belief that we know so little about how people get rich or poor, about how it is they come to dwell in comfort and health or die in penury and disease. Financial markets are the machines in which much of human welfare is decided; yet we know more about how our car engines work than about how our global financial system functions. We lurch from crisis to crisis. In a networked world, mayhem in one market spreads instantaneously to all others—and we have only the vaguest of notions how this happens, or how to regulate it. So limited is our knowledge that we resort, not to science, but to shamans. We place control of the world's largest economy in the hands of a few elderly men, the central bankers.
“We try to fix the outside so much, but our control of the outer world is limited, temporary, and often, illusory.”
Source: Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Matthieu Ricard 9
French writer and Buddhist monk 1946Related quotes
The Artist's Way (1992)
Context: All too often too often we try to push, pull, outline and control our ideas instead of letting them grow organically. The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.
Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise. <!-- p. 195
"The Best Time-Management Advice Is Depressing But Liberating" (2021 August 11)
Source: Healing Our World: The Other Piece of the Puzzle, (1993), p. 260
Source: Everyday Grace: Having Hope, Finding Forgiveness And Making Miracles
“We often fool ourselves that we are concentrating because we fix our attention on wavering objects”
Source: Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom, p. 13
1960s, Inaugural address (1965)
Context: Liberty was the second article of our covenant. It was self-government. It was our Bill of Rights. But it was more. America would be a place where each man could be proud to be himself: stretching his talents, rejoicing in his work, important in the life of his neighbors and his nation. This has become more difficult in a world where change and growth seem to tower beyond the control and even the judgment of men. We must work to provide the knowledge and the surroundings which can enlarge the possibilities of every citizen. The American covenant called on us to help show the way for the liberation of man. And that is today our goal. Thus, if as a nation there is much outside our control, as a people no stranger is outside our hope.