“The profit motive, we are constantly being told, is as old as man himself.”

—  Robert L. Heilbroner, book The Worldly Philosophers

Source: The Worldly Philosophers (1953), Chapter II, The Economic Revolution, p. 15
Context: It may strike us as odd that the idea of gain is a relatively modern one; we are schooled to believe that man is essentially an acquisitive creature and that left to himself he will behave as any self-respecting businessman would. The profit motive, we are constantly being told, is as old as man himself.
Nothing could be further from the truth.

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Robert L. Heilbroner photo
Robert L. Heilbroner39
American historian and economist 1919–2005

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