An economist¹ is a man who states the obvious in terms of the incomprehensible.

Alfred A. Knopf

Acts of sacrifice and decency² without regard to what's in it for you create ripple³ effects. Ones that lift up families and communities, that spread opportunity and boost our economy.

Barack Obama (1961 - ), Arizona State Commencement Speech, 2009

There can be no real individual freedom in the presence of economic insecurity.

Chester Bowles (1901 - 1986)

If all economists⁴ were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.

George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.

John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - 2006)

Isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction listen to weather forecasts and economists?

Kelvin Throop III

An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today.

Laurence J. Peter (1919 - 1988)

Socialism failed because it couldn't tell the economic truth; capitalism⁵ may fail because it couldn't tell the ecological⁶ truth.

Lester Brown, Fortune Brainstorm⁷ Conference, 2006

An economist is a surgeon with an excellent scalpel and a rough-edged lancet, who operates beautifully on the dead and tortures the living.

Nicholas Chamfort (1741 - 1794)

In all recorded history there has not been one economist who has had to worry about where the next meal would come from.

Peter Drucker (1909 - 2005)

There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy⁸. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit⁹! We used to call them astronomical¹⁰ numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.

Richard Feynman (1918 - 1988)