Quotes about profit
page 5

Clayton M. Christensen photo
Michael Moore photo
David Ricardo photo

“The farmer and manufacturer can no more live without profit than the labourer without wages.”

David Ricardo (1772–1823) British political economist, broker and politician

Source: The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1821) (Third Edition), Chapter VI, On Profits, p. 73

Orson Welles photo

“My father once told me that the art of receiving a compliment is, of all things, the sign of a civilized man. He died soon afterwards, leaving my education in this important matter sadly incomplete; I'm only glad that, on this, the occasion of the rarest compliment he ever could have dreamed of, that he isn't here to see his son so publicly at a loss. In receiving a compliment, or in trying to, the words are all worn out by now. They're polluted by ham and corn. And, when you try to scratch around for some new ones, it's just an exercise in empty cleverness. What I feel this evening, is not very clever. it's the very opposite of emptiness. The corny old phrase is the only one I know to say it: my heart is full; with a full heart, with all of it, I thank you. This is Samuel Johnson, on the subject of what he calls contrarieties: "there are goods, so opposed that we cannot seize both, and, in trying, fail to seize either. Flatter not yourself, he says, with contrarieties. Of the blessings set before you, make your choice. No man can, at the same time, fill his cup from the source, and from the mouth of the nile." For this business of contrarieties has to do with us. With you, who are paying me this compliment, and for me, who has strayed so far from this hometown of ours. Not that I am alone in this, or unique, I am never that; but there are a few of us left in this conglomerated world of us who still trudge stubbornly along this lonely rocky road; and this is in fact our contrariety. We don't move nearly as fast as our cousins on the freeway; we don't even get as much accomplished just as the family sized farm can't possibly raise as many crops or get as much profit as the agricultural factory of today. What we do come up with has no special right to call itself better it's just.. different. No if there's any excuse for us it all, it's that we're simply following the old American tradition of the maverick, and we are a vanishing breed. This honor I can only accept in the name of all the mavericks. And also, as a tribute to the generosity of all the rest of you; to the givers, to the ones with fixed addresses. A maverick may go his own way but he doesn't think that it's the only way, or ever claim that it's the best one, except maybe for himself. And don't imagine that this raggle-taggle gypsy-o is claiming to be free. It's just that some of the necessities to which I am a slave are different from yours. As a director, for instance, I pay myself out of my acting jobs. I use my own work to subsidize my work (in other words I'm crazy). But not crazy enough to pretend to be free. But it's a fact that many of the films you've seen tonight could never have been made otherwise. Or, if otherwise, well, they might have been better, but certainly they wouldn't have been mine. The truth is I don't believe that this great evening would ever have brightened my life if it wasn't for this: my own, particular, contrariety. Let us raise our cups, then, standing as some of us do on opposite ends of the river, to what really matters to us all: to our crazy, beloved profession, to the movies — to good movies, to every possible kind.”

Orson Welles (1915–1985) American actor, director, writer and producer

Speech given upon his acceptance of the AFI Lifetime Achievement award. Viewable http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXJnxClGamA&list=HL1349840607&feature=mh_lolz

Allen C. Guelzo photo
Henry R. Towne photo
Vladimir Lenin photo
Ernest Gellner photo
Friedrich Engels photo
Benito Mussolini photo
Lewis Black photo
Didier Sornette photo

“Profiting from being in the minority leads to interesting paradoxes. Rather diabolically, if all traders use the same set of rules, they will end up doing the same thing at the same time and cannot therefore be in the minority.”

Didier Sornette (1957) French scientist

Source: Why Stock Markets Crash - Critical Events in Complex Systems (2003), Chapter 4, Positive Feedbacks, p. 115

John Newton photo
Albrecht Thaer photo

“Agriculture is a trade with the purpose… to produce profit or to gain money. The higher this benefit in the long run, the more complete this purpose is fulfilled.”

Albrecht Thaer (1752–1828) German agronomist and an avid supporter of the humus theory for plant nutrition

Thaer (1810) cited in: Martin Frielinghaus and Claus Dalchow. " Thaer 200 years at Möglin (Germany) http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/ed-06-08/010039833.pdf." in documentation.ird.fr. (2007): 259-267.
Opening sentence of Thaer's four-volume Grundsatze der rationellen Landwirthschaft (Principles of Efficient Agriculture, 1809-1812).

Steve Blank photo
Ron Kaufman photo

“Service does not exist at the expense of your profits. Profit exists because you made the investment in service.”

Ron Kaufman (1956) American author and consultant

Lift Me UP! Service With A Smile (2005)

John Gay photo

“Give me, kind Heaven, a private station,
A mind serene for contemplation:
Title and profit I resign;
The post of honour shall be mine.”

John Gay (1685–1732) English poet and playwright

The Vulture, the Sparrow, and other Birds. Comparable to: "When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, The post of honour is a private station", Joseph Addison, Cato, Act iv, scene 4
Fables (1727), Fables, Part the Second (1738)

Peter F. Drucker photo

“There is a definite trend in Italy and Germany to eliminate profit participation and the ownership rights of nonmanaging partners and shareholders.”

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant

Source: 1930s- 1950s, The End of Economic Man (1939), p. 150

Norman Angell photo
Plautus photo

“The valiant profit more
Their country, than the finest cleverest speakers.”

Truculentus, Act II, scene ii
Truculentus

“How senseless is the sordid love of gain;
Blind to all else the mind that's set on profit.”

Diphilus Athenian poet of New Comedy

Fragment 13
Fabulae Incertae

Michel De Montaigne photo
Laisenia Qarase photo
M. S. Golwalkar photo

“It is not size that counts in business. Some companies with $500,000 capital net more profits than other companies with $5 million. Size is a handicap unless efficiency goes with it.”

Herbert N. Casson (1869–1951) Canadian journalist and writer

Herbert N. Casson cited in: Alfred Armand Montapert (1964) Distilled Wisdom. p. 68
1950s and later

Max Weber photo
Thomas Jefferson photo

“I am quite at a loss about the nailboys remaining with mr Stewart. they have long been a dead expence instead of profit to me. in truth they require a vigour of discipline to make them do reasonable work, to which he cannot bring himself. on the whole I think it will be best for them also to be removed to mr Lilly’s”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

control
In a letter to James Dinsmore as quoted in The Dark Side of Thomas Jefferson http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-dark-side-of-thomas-jefferson-35976004/, by Henry Wiencek, Smithsonian Magazine, (October 2012)
Attributed

Sarah Palin photo

“Canada needs to dismantle its public health-care system and allow private enterprise to get involved and turn a profit.”

Sarah Palin (1964) American politician

[2009-12-18, Backlash boots Palin from hospital fundraising, Toronto Sun, http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2009/12/18/12204771-qmi.html]
2014

“The most profitable and praiseworthy genius in the world is untiring industry.”

Elias Lyman Magoon (1810–1886) American minister

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 347.

David Puttnam photo
Vladimir Lenin photo
Angela Davis photo
Joan Robinson photo
Edward R. Murrow photo

“If we were to do the Second Coming of Christ in color for a full hour, there would be a considerable number of stations which would decline to carry it on the grounds that a Western or a quiz show would be more profitable.”

Edward R. Murrow (1908–1965) Television journalist

On receiving the "Family of Man" Award (1964); as quoted in Prime Time: The Life of Edward R. Murrow by Alexander Kendrick (1969)

Margaret Thatcher photo
Ernesto Che Guevara photo
Richard Arkwright photo
Ursula K. Le Guin photo
Freeman Dyson photo
Jeremy Corbyn photo
Thomas More photo

“If honor were profitable, everybody would be honorable.”

Thomas More (1478–1535) English Renaissance humanist

Attributed in Lives That Made a Difference: An RSME Book for Schools (2011) by P. J. Clarke

Jonathan Edwards photo

“Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.”

Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) Christian preacher, philosopher, and theologian

No. 5.
Seventy Resolutions (1722-1723)

Paul Thurrott photo

“[Apple] events are tough for non-sycophants such as myself. I don't take everything Apple says at face value, as they would prefer. And I certainly don't buy into the theory that the world's most profitable company is in any way out to help humanity or make the world a better place.”

Paul Thurrott (1966) American podcaster, author, and blogger

Analysis: Apple's September 2017 Announcements http://thurrott.com/mobile/ios/134901/analysis-apples-september-2017-announcements in Thurrott - The Home For Tech Enthusiasts: News, Reviews & Analysis (13 September 2017)

Jeremy Corbyn photo
David Ricardo photo

“But a tax on luxuries would no other effect than to raise their price. It would fall wholly on the consumer, and could neither increase wages nor lower profits.”

David Ricardo (1772–1823) British political economist, broker and politician

Source: The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1821) (Third Edition), Chapter XVII, Taxes on Other Commodities, p. 161 (see also.. Consumption Tax)

Martin Luther King, Jr. photo
Samuel R. Delany photo
Michael Moorcock photo
Peter F. Drucker photo

“Capitalism might be defined, if we wish to be scientific, as a form of economic organization motivated by the pursuit of profit within a price structure.”

Carroll Quigley (1910–1977) American historian

Source: The Evolution of Civilizations (1961) (Second Edition 1979), Chapter 8, Canaanite and Minooan Civilizations, p. 240

Winston S. Churchill photo

“The substance of the eminent Socialist gentleman’s speech is that making a profit is a sin, but it is my belief that the real sin is taking a loss.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Reported in James C. Humes, Speaker's Treasury of Anecdotes About the Famous (1978), p. 45, as a remark made in the House of Commons responding to a Laborite speech on the evils of free enterprise; reported as unverified in Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989).
Disputed

Jeremy Corbyn photo

“In eight simple ways, my Bill seeks to provide a framework for giving pensioners a decent living standard. First, it would fix old-age pensions for couples at half average industrial earnings, and for single people it would be a third…Secondly, my Bill would require central Government to appoint a Minister responsible for the co-ordination of policy on pensioners. Thirdly, it would require local authorities to produce a comprehensive annual report about their policies on pensioners and on the conditions of pensioners in their communities. Fourthly, every health authority would also be asked to do that. Fifthly, the present anomalous system means that in some parts of the country where there are foresighted Labour local authorities there are concessionary transport schemes — free bus passes. They do not exist in some parts of Britain and the Bill would make them a national responsibility and they would be paid for nationally…My sixth point is one of the most important. It is about the introduction of a flat-rate winter heating allowance instead of the nonsensical system of waiting for the cold to run from Monday to Sunday, and then if it is sufficiently cold a rebate is paid in arrears. Last winter that resulted in many old people living in homes that were too cold because they could not afford to heat them. If they did get any aid, it was far too late. My seventh point concerns the abolition of standing charges on gas, electricity and telephones for elderly people. They are paying about £250 million a year towards the profits of the gas industry and those profits will be about £1.5 billion. Standing charges should be cancelled, unit prices maintained and the cost of the standing charge should be taken from the profits of the gas board or the electricity board — if it ends up being privatised. They could well afford to pay for that rather than forcing old people to live in cold and misery throughout the winter. Finally, the Bill would prohibit the cutting off of gas and electricity in any pensioner household.”

Jeremy Corbyn (1949) British Labour Party politician

Speech http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1987/dec/01/elimination-of-poverty-in-old-age-etc in the House of Commons (1 December 1987).
1980s

Edward Bernays photo
Utah Phillips photo
Nina Paley photo

“Mimi: Silencing you because I don’t like what you say is censorship.
Silencing you because I can make more money that way is copyright.
They’re totally different!
Eunice: The profit motive makes it OK.”

Nina Paley (1968) US animator, cartoonist and free culture activist

“Censorship Vs. Copyright” (7 June 2011)
Mimi and Eunice (2010 - present)

Michael Shea photo
Samuel Gompers photo

“The worst crime against working people is a company which fails to operate at a profit.”

Samuel Gompers (1850–1924) American Labor Leader[AFL]

Quoted in Rothschild, Michael. Bionomics: Economy as Business Ecosystem. Washington, D.C.: BeardBooks, 1990, p. 115.

Peter Sloterdijk photo
Walter Rauschenbusch photo
Russell Brand photo
Chris Hedges photo
John A. McDougall photo
Ron Paul photo
Anton Chekhov photo
Ellen Page photo

“Why are vegans made fun of while the inhumane factory farming process regards animals and the natural world merely as commodities to be exploited for profit?”

Ellen Page (1987) Canadian actress

Tweet on Twitter (15 March 2011) https://twitter.com/ellenpage/status/47690929607409664, quoted in "Jared Leto and Ellen Page Named Sexiest Vegetarians", at E! Online (26 June 2014) http://www.eonline.com/news/554500/jared-leto-ellen-page-named-sexiest-vegetarians

Francis Bacon photo
George Washington Plunkitt photo
Igor Ansoff photo
Alfred P. Sloan photo
Peter F. Drucker photo

“Profit is not a cause but a result”

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant

Source: 1960s - 1980s, MANAGEMENT: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices (1973), Part 1, p. 71

R. H. Tawney photo
Julian of Norwich photo

“Thus by this gracious knowing we may see our sin profitably without despair.”

Julian of Norwich (1342–1416) English theologian and anchoress

The Sixteenth Revelation, Chapter 78

Benjamin Graham photo

“It is no difficult trick to bring a great deal of energy, study, and native ability into Wall Street and to end up with losses instead of profits. These virtues, if channeled in the wrong directions, become indistinguishable from handicaps.”

Benjamin Graham (1894–1976) American investor

Source: The Intelligent Investor: The Classic Text on Value Investing (1949), Chapter I, What the Intelligent Investor Can Accomplish, p. 11

W. Edwards Deming photo
Boris Johnson photo

“Try as I might, I could not look at an overhead projection of a growth profit matrix, and stay conscious.”

Boris Johnson (1964) British politician, historian and journalist

Beth Pearson, "Has Howard got news for Boris?", The Herald (Glasgow), 13 November 2004, p. 15.
Explaining why he quit after a week as a management consultant.
2000s, 2004

Karl Mannheim photo
Charles Darwin photo
Henry Van Dyke photo

“To desire and strive to be of some service to the world, to aim at doing something which shall really increase the happiness and welfare and virtue of mankind,—this is a choice which is possible for all of us; and surely it is a good haven to sail for. The more we think of it, the more attractive and desirable it becomes. To do some work that is needed, and to do it thoroughly well; to make our toil count for something in adding to the sum total of what is actually profitable for humanity; to make two blades of grass grow where one grew before, or, better still, to make one wholesome idea take root in a mind that was bare and fallow; to make our example count for something on the side of honesty and cheerfulness, and courage, and good faith, and love - this is an aim for life which is very wide, and yet very definite, as clear as light. It is not in the least vague. It is only free; it has the power to embody itself in a thousand forms without changing its character. Those who seek it know what it means, however it may be expressed. It is real and genuine and satisfying. There is nothing beyond it, because there can be no higher practical result of effort. It is the translation, through many languages, of the true, divine purpose of all the work and labor that is done beneath the sun, into one final, universal word. It is the active consciousness of personal harmony with the will of God who worketh hitherto.”

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) American diplomat

Source: Ships and Havens https://archive.org/stream/shipshavens00vand#page/28/mode/2up/search/more+we+think+of+it (1897), p.27

Felix Frankfurter photo
George D. Herron photo
Stanley Baldwin photo
Simone de Beauvoir photo

“Society cares about the individual only in so far as he is profitable. The young know this. Their anxiety as they enter in upon social life matches the anguish of the old as they are excluded from it.”

Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist, and social theorist

Conclusion, p. 543
The Coming of Age (1970)

Richard Rumelt photo
David Korten photo
Christopher Hitchens photo

“Ronald Reagan claimed that the Russian language had no word for "freedom." (The word is "svoboda"; it's quite well attested in Russian literature)… said that intercontinental ballistic missiles (not that there are any non-ballistic missiles—a corruption of language that isn't his fault) could be recalled once launched… said that he sought a "Star Wars" defense only in order to share the technology with the tyrants of the U. S. S. R… professed to be annoyed when people called it "Star Wars," even though he had ended his speech on the subject with the lame quip, "May the force be with you"… used to alarm his Soviet counterparts by saying that surely they'd both unite against an invasion from Mars… used to alarm other constituencies by speaking freely about the "End Times" foreshadowed in the Bible. In the Oval Office, Ronald Reagan told Yitzhak Shamir and Simon Wiesenthal, on two separate occasions, that he himself had assisted personally at the liberation of the Nazi death camps.There was more to Ronald Reagan than that. Reagan announced that apartheid South Africa had "stood beside us in every war we've ever fought," when the South African leadership had been on the other side in the most recent world war… allowed Alexander Haig to greenlight the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, fired him when that went too far and led to mayhem in Beirut, then ran away from Lebanon altogether when the Marine barracks were bombed, and then unbelievably accused Tip O'Neill and the Democrats of "scuttling.".. sold heavy weapons to the Iranian mullahs and lied about it, saying that all the weapons he hadn't sold them (and hadn't traded for hostages in any case) would, all the same, have fit on a small truck… then diverted the profits of this criminal trade to an illegal war in Nicaragua and lied unceasingly about that, too… then modestly let his underlings maintain that he was too dense to understand the connection between the two impeachable crimes. He then switched without any apparent strain to a policy of backing Saddam Hussein against Iran. (If Margaret Thatcher's intelligence services had not bugged Oliver North in London and become infuriated because all European nations were boycotting Iran at Reagan's request, we might still not know about this.) One could go on… This was a man never short of a cheap jibe or the sort of falsehood that would, however laughable, buy him some time.”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

2000s, 2004

Ted Malloch photo

“Profit doesn’t appear as the goal but as a side effect of pursuing motivating principles.”

Ted Malloch (1952) American businessman

Source: Doing Virtuous Business (Thomas Nelson, 2011), p. 3.

Calvin Coolidge photo
Joseph Smith, Jr. photo