George Soros Quotes

Studying economics is not a good preparation for dealing with it.

Democracy, by its very nature, can't be imposed on people. Democracy has to be the people deciding for themselves.

The collapse of the global marketplace would be a traumatic event with unimaginable consequences. Yet I find it easier to imagine than the continuation of the present regime.

I am not a Zionist, nor am I am a practicing Jew, but I have a great deal of sympathy for my fellow Jews and a deep concern for the survival of Israel.

Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected.

The reality is that financial markets are self-destabilizing; occasionally they tend toward disequilibrium, not equilibrium.

American supremacy is the greatest threat to the world today.

Well, you know, I was a human being before I became a businessman.

Every bubble consists of a trend that can be observed in the real world and a misconception relating to that trend. The two elements interact with each other in a reflexive manner.

The global crisis is caused by pathologies inherent in the global financial system itself.

Markets are imperfect. So you do need regulation, knowing that the regulators are also human.

Markets can influence the events that they anticipate.

What works for Germany can't work for the rest of Europe: No country can run a chronic surplus without others running deficits.

A global economy is characterized not only by the free movement of goods and services but, more important, by the free movement of ideas and of capital.

When interest rates are low we have conditions for asset bubbles to develop, and they are developing at the moment. The ultimate asset bubble is gold.

Political debate is more interested in manipulating the truth, than finding the truth.

There is always a divergence between our perception and what actually exists.

Taking this view, it is possible to see financial markets as a laboratory for testing hypotheses, albeit not strictly scientific ones. The truth is, successful investing is a kind of alchemy.

The laissez-faire argument relies on the same tacit appeal to perfection as does communism.

When I had made more money than I needed for myself and my family, I set up a foundation to promote the values and principles of a free and open society.

Market prices are always wrong.

When money is free, the rational lender will keep on lending until there is no one else to lend to.

If we carry this line of argument to its logical conclusion, the meaning of life consists of the flaws in one's conceptions and what one does about them. Life can be seen as a fertile fallacy.

If the bubbles contain a misconception, as they always do, then it can't be maintained forever.

Mankind's ability to understand and control the forces of nature greatly exceeds our ability to govern ourselves

The assumption of perfect knowledge is very far from reality ... a lot of the evil in the world is actually not intentional.

Changeless society is characterized by the absense of alternatives.

A full and fair discussion is essential to democracy.

I very often used to get backaches due to the fact that I was wrong. Whenever you are wrong you have to fight or [take] flight. When [I] make the decision, the backache goes away.

Misconceptions play a prominent role in my view of the world.

My main concern is with the world order

Law has become a business. Health care has become a business. Unfortunately, politics has also become a business. That really undermines society.

The financial markets play an active role in determining what's going to happen, how the economy is going to function.

The trouble with institutional investors is that their performance is usually measured relative to their peer group and not by an absolute yardstick. This makes them trend followers by definition.

We are trying to make the world a better place, but that is not necessarily what we accomplish. Many of the problems which preoccupy us are basically insoluble.

Globalization has rendered the world increasingly interdependent, but international politics is still based on the sovereignty of states.

I chose America as my home because I value freedom and democracy, civil liberties and an open society.

I fancied myself as some kind of god or an economic reformer like Keynes

The prevailing wisdom is that markets are always right. I take the opposite position. I assume that markets are always wrong.

Whenever there is a conflict between universal principles and self-interest, self-interest is likely to prevail.

If we care about universal principles such as freedom, democracy and the rule of law, we cannot leave them to the care of market forces; we must establish some other institutions to safeguard them.

I am against market fundamentalism. I think this propaganda that government involvement is always bad has been very successful - but also very harmful to our society.

An open society calls itself open to improvement. It is based on the recognition that people have divergent views and interests, and that nobody is in possession of the ultimate truth.

You could adjust the punishment to fit the infraction. Even a small fine would be enough to bring an errant government to heel.

Sometimes time actually works against you if you refuse to face the relevant issues and explain to the public what is at stake.

The dark comes before dawn. The financial markets are under great pressure because of the lack of leadership during the transition period.

The key problem is the debt restructuring in the euro zone. As long as the debt burden is not reduced, there is no chance of the weaker EU countries regaining competitiveness.

Economics seeks to be a science. Science is supposed to be objective and it is difficult to be scientific when the subject matter, the participant in the economic process, lacks objectivity.

Any central bank should only be in charge of liquidity. Solvency is a matter for the treasury.

I think that my foundation uses the money better than the government does. In any event, I do pay taxes.