---
title: "1 Defeatist Attitude Quotes By David Graeber"
description: "1 Defeatist Attitude quotes by David Graeber. Plus more from David Graeber and more Defeatist Attitude sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/149/david-graeber-4667_attitude_capitalism-is-like-this-fractal-thing-wh_3201521.png"
---

> [Capitalism is like this fractal thing where anything that contains an element of capitalism anywhere inside it is just something that turns into capitalism. It is an incredibly defeatist attitude. If you choose to look at reality that way, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/capitalism-is-like-this-fractal-thing-where-anything-that-contains-an/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/149/david-graeber-4667_attitude_capitalism-is-like-this-fractal-thing-wh_3201521.png)

## More by David Graeber

> [People don't have an ongoing relation unless it's a form of debt because everything is an exchange, so ongoing relationships are incomplete exchanges, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/people-don-t-have-an-ongoing-relation-unless-it-s-a-form-of-debt/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [I would like, then, to end by putting in a good word for the non-industrious poor. At least they aren’t hurting anyone. Insofar as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/i-would-like-then-to-end-by-putting-in-a-good-word-for-the-non/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [“But if Smith was right, and gold and silver became money through the natural workings of the market completely independently of governments, then wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/but-if-smith-was-right-and-gold-and-silver-became-money-through-the/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [“A revolution on a world scale will take a very long time. But it is also possible to recognize that it is already starting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/a-revolution-on-a-world-scale-will-take-a-very-long-time-but-it-is/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [“money has no essence. It's not "really" anything; therefore, its nature has always been and presumably always will be a matter of political conten­tion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/money-has-no-essence-it-s-not-really-anything-therefore-its-nature/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [We don't live in a capitalist totality. Capitalism couldn't survive as a totality anyway. We live in this complex system and we already live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/we-don-t-live-in-a-capitalist-totality-capitalism-couldn-t-survive-as/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [“About the only thing we can imagine is catastrophe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/about-the-only-thing-we-can-imagine-is-catastrophe/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [The working poor are the people suffering out subprime mortgages and fatal loans and more and more of our money - you know, capitalism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/the-working-poor-are-the-people-suffering-out-subprime-mortgages-and/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [“Solitary pleasures will always exist, but for most human beings, the most pleasurable activities almost always involve sharing something: music, food, liquor, drugs, gossip,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/solitary-pleasures-will-always-exist-but-for-most-human-beings-the/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [“IMF is really designed to protect creditors not debtors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/imf-is-really-designed-to-protect-creditors-not-debtors/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [“The criminalization of debt, then, was the criminalization of the very basis of human society. It cannot be overemphasized that in a small community,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/the-criminalization-of-debt-then-was-the-criminalization-of-the-very/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [If you imagine that everything is an exchange, then we're supposed to just transact and walk away. If we haven't walked away and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/if-you-imagine-that-everything-is-an-exchange-then-we-re-supposed-to/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [“As Pierre Bourdieu was later to point out in describing a similar economy of trust in contemporary Algeria: it’s quite possible to turn honor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/as-pierre-bourdieu-was-later-to-point-out-in-describing-a-similar/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [ \[A\] great embarrassing fact… haunts all attempts to represent the market as the highest form of human freedom: that historically, impersonal, commercial markets originate… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/a-great-embarrassing-fact-haunts-all-attempts-to-represent-the-market/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [“As the events of 2011 reveal, the age of revolutions is by no means over. The human imagination stubbornly refuses to die. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/as-the-events-of-2011-reveal-the-age-of-revolutions-is-by-no-means/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

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