John Maynard Keynes

"The nineteenth century saw an economic system more unstable and more destructive than we now appreciate."

"Moderation and common sense should prevail in all things, particularly in economics."

"The problem with betting the farm on your theory is that sometimes your theory is wrong."

"Beauty and truth often coincide; when they diverge, truth must prevail."

"The greatest paradox is that poverty exists amid plenty."

"Our knowledge of the future is always fundamentally limited."

"The multiplier effect explains why small changes in confidence can lead to large economic shifts."

"Confidence is the very stuff of economic life."

"The notion that a man can be an expert on a subject outside his field of specialization is absurd."

"We are all Keynesians now, though none of us fully understand what that means."

"An economy cannot be understood by treating it as a machine with fixed relationships."

"The art of economics lies in the relating of abstract principles to concrete institutions."

"In a properly functioning economy, the people with money do not make the important decisions."

"Beauty requires an interaction between the observer and the observed."

"The stability of a system depends on the expectations people hold about its future."

"Traditional wisdom should be questioned; that is how we make progress."

"Human happiness is not primarily determined by material wealth but by meaningful engagement."

"The measurement of welfare is one of the most difficult problems in economics."

"We must be careful not to mistake correlation for causation in economic analysis."

"Economic science teaches us humility about what we can predict and control."

"The future is not determined by inexorable laws but by human choices and actions."

"Moral progress and economic efficiency are two different things entirely."

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."

"Civilization is dependent upon sound economic foundations, though it is much more than that."

"The path to prosperity lies not in restricting output but in increasing consumption."

"Banking, properly understood, is the provision of credit to facilitate production and exchange."

"Interest rates are a reward for postponing consumption, but also a reflection of uncertainty."

"The great delusion of modern times is that material progress automatically brings moral progress."

"A nation cannot accumulate wealth if it fails to invest in its children and their education."

"The study of economics reveals how little we truly understand about human behavior."