John Maynard Keynes quotes

John Maynard Keynes was a British economist, widely regarded as one of the founders of modern macroeconomics. His theories on government intervention and fiscal policy transformed economic thinking during the twentieth century. He is remembered for advocating active government measures to combat economic recessions. Here are 167 of his quotes:

The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.

John Maynard Keynes

I do not know which makes a man more conservative - to know nothing but the present, or nothing but the past.

John Maynard Keynes

Long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead.

John Maynard Keynes

Successful investing is anticipating the anticipations of others.

John Maynard Keynes

Words ought to be a little wild, for they are the assault of thoughts on the unthinking.

John Maynard Keynes

Ideas shape the course of history.

John Maynard Keynes

Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.

John Maynard Keynes

Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.

John Maynard Keynes

If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.

John Maynard Keynes

I work for a Government I despise for ends I think criminal.

John Maynard Keynes

A study of the history of opinion is a necessary preliminary to the emancipation of the mind.

John Maynard Keynes

Nothing mattered except states of mind, chiefly our own.

John Maynard Keynes

The power to become habituated to his surroundings is a marked characteristic of mankind.

John Maynard Keynes

If we aim deliberately at the impoverishment of Central Europe, vengeance, I dare predict, will not limp.

John Maynard Keynes

Whenever you save five shillings you put a man out of work for a day.

John Maynard Keynes

But the dreams of designing diplomats do not always prosper, and we must trust the future.

John Maynard Keynes

The political problem of mankind is to combine three things: economic efficiency, social justice and individual liberty.

John Maynard Keynes

It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong.

John Maynard Keynes

The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds.

John Maynard Keynes

In truth, the gold standard is already a barbarous relic.

John Maynard Keynes

Men will not always die quietly.

John Maynard Keynes

We will not have any more crashes in our time.

John Maynard Keynes