Skip to content

Portrait of George Soros

George Soros

(1930) Activist

225 quotes in 1154 categories

Soros argues that the euro’s story can trap imaginations, so changing it is hard. He says markets let people chase profit and that profit comes from spotting the unexpected. He also warns that a nation’s strength can be undone by its own mistakes.

Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

George Soros is an activist, best known for George Soros on Globalization.

Quick Facts About George Soros

Born: August 12, 1930
Profession: Activist
Notable works: George Soros on Globalization

About George Soros

As of May 2025 his net worth was about US$7.2 billion, and he has donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations, with $15 billion already distributed, representing 64 % of his original fortune. Forbes called him the “most generous giver” in 2020 because of the share of his wealth he gave away.

Quotes by George Soros

A full and fair discussion is essential to democracy.

Democracy

Image

My main concern is with the world order

Image

I would prefer not to be involved in party politics.

Image

Find the trend whose premise is false, and bet against it.

Image

The world order needs a major overhaul.

Image

Revolutions usually start with enthusiasm and end in tears.

Image

The ultimate asset bubble is gold.

Image

The hardest thing to judge is what level of risk is safe.

Image

Start by assuming the market is always wrong, so if you copy everybody else on Wall Street, you're doomed to do poorly.

Always wrong

Image

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

America

Image

The worse a situation becomes the less it takes to turn it around, the bigger the upside.

Image

It is much easier to put existing resources to better use, than to develop resources where they do not exist.

Image

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

Image

I have made it a principle to give advice that does not serve my personal interest but rather the common interests.

Advice

Image

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

Image

My approach works not by making valid predictions but by allowing me to correct false ones.

Image

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

Assumption

Image

Investors operate with limited funds and intelligence, they do not need to know everything. As long as they understand something better than…

Customer

Image

The financial markets generally are unpredictable. So that one has to have different scenarios... The idea that you can actually predict what's…

Customer

Image

I am not well qualified to criticize the theory of rational expectations and the efficient market hypothesis because as a market participant…

Image

The world is looking to us for leadership. We have provided it in the past; the main reason why anti-American feelings are…

Anti american

Image

The strength of this country lies in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights and the freedom of speech and…

Bill of rights

Image

Proposition 19 already is a winner no matter what happens on election day. The mere fact of its being on the ballot…

Ballot

Image

Regulating and taxing marijuana would simultaneously save taxpayers billions of dollars in enforcement and incarceration costs, while providing many billions of dollars…

Image

Germany will always do the minimum to preserve the euro. Doing the minimum, though, will perpetuate the situation where the debtor countries…

Country

Image

China could easily emerge as the great winner if the Chinese leaders handle the situation well. On the other hand, they could…

Biggest loser

Image

The lower interest rates fueled housing and consumption booms in countries such as Spain and Ireland. At the same time, Germany, struggling…

Image

I passionately disagreed with Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's plan to bail out the banks by using a public fund called the Troubled…

Image

Although I have made a fortune in the financial markets, I now fear that the untrammeled intensification of laissez-faire capitalism and the…

Image

There is a well-established conviction that the central banks always do what is necessary to keep the system going and then afterwards…

Image

The only thing that could hurt me is if my success encouraged me to return to my childhood fantasies of omnipotence -…

Childhood

Image

I would be lying, however, if I claimed that I could always formulate worthwhile hypotheses on the basis of my theoretical framework.…

Image

“Economic theory is devoted to the study of equilibrium positions. The concept of equilibrium is very useful. It allows us to focus…

Economic theory

Image

“Now look at the ideology of American supremacy. It has a solid foundation in reality; namely, the United States is the dominant…

Different views

Image

“On the abstract level, I have turned the belief in my own fallibility into the cornerstone of an elaborate philosophy. On a…

Faith

Image

Anticipating attacks, I should like to emphasize that I do not subscribe to the myths propagated by enemies of Israel and I…

Anti semitism

Image

“The prevailing wisdom is that markets are always right. I take the opposition position. I assume that markets are always wrong. Even…

Customer

Image

“The very first sentence of the September 2002 National Security Strategy (the President's annual laying out to Congress of the country's security…

Business

Image

“It's more difficult, you know, to bring about positive change than it is to make money. It's much easier to make money,…

Bottom line

Image

Financial markets are supposed to swing like a pendulum: They may fluctuate wildly in response to exogenous shocks, but eventually they are…

Image

George Soros by topic

Investing (79) Customer (36) Money (35) World (24) Politics (21) Government (17) People (16) Financial Market (15) Interest (15) Financial markets (15) Country (14) Europe (13) Economics (12) Inspirational (11) Values (10) Time (10)