George Soros

The main difference between me and other people who have amassed this kind of money is that I am primarily interested in ideas, and I don't have much personal use for money. But I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't made money: My ideas would not have gotten much play.

As quoted in The Winning Investment Habits of Warren Buffett & George Soros (2006) by Mark Tier, p. 219, 2006

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

As quoted in "Great Money Minds" by Chris Stallman at TeenAnalyst.com (5 May 2005), 2005

I think he's a man of good intentions. I don't doubt it. But I think he's leading us in the wrong direction.

On George W. Bush, 2003

How can we escape from the trap that the terrorists have set us? Only by recognizing that the war on terrorism cannot be won by waging war. We must, of course, protect our security; but we must also correct the grievances on which terrorism feeds. Crime requires police work, not military action.

Address at the University of Pennsylvania (2002); quoted in "White House playing into Soros' hands?" by J. Michael Waller, in WorldNetDaily (1 December 2003), 2002

Americans, sadly, are now victims who have turned into perpetrators. Indeed, since September 2001, the war on terror has claimed more innocent victims than those terrorist attacks. This fact is unrecognized at home because the victims of the war on terror are not Americans. But the rest of the world does not draw the same distinction, and world opinion has turned against America.

"How Terrorism's Victims Became Perpetrators" (April 2004), 2001

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

2000

We live in a global economy, but the political organization of our global society is woefully inadequate. We are bereft of the capacity to preserve peace and to counteract the excesses of the financial markets. Without these controls, the global economy, is liable to break down

1998

George Soros: I think that I am being blamed for everything. I am basically there to make money. I cannot and do not look at the social consequences of what I do.

1998

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

1998

A global society does not mean a global state. To abolish the existence of states is neither feasible nor desirable; but insofar as there are collective interests that transcend state boundaries, the sovereignty of states must be subordinated to international law and international institutions.

1998

The bureaucratic method of building an integrated Europe has exhausted its potential.

"Can Europe Work? A Plan to Rescue the Union" in Foreign Affairs (September/October 1996), 1996

My peculiarity is that I don't have a particular style of investing or, more exactly, I try to change my style to fit the conditions.

1995

I made two major discoveries in the course of writing: one is a reflexive connection between credit and collateral; the other is a reflexive relationship between regulators and the economies they regulate

1987

The truth is, successful investing is a kind of alchemy.

1987

The act of lending can change the value of the collateral

1987