---
title: "1 Relationships Somebody Quotes By David Graeber"
description: "1 Relationships Somebody quotes by David Graeber. Plus more from David Graeber and more Relationships Somebody sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/david-graeber-4667_assuming_the-fascinating-thing-about-standard-eco_1321287.png"
---

> [The fascinating thing about standard economic stories is exactly that: they assume that everybody wants that kind of closure. That all human relations are forms of exchange, because if everything is an exchange then it's true that we're both equals.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/the-fascinating-thing-about-standard-economic-stories-is-exactly-that/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/david-graeber-4667_assuming_the-fascinating-thing-about-standard-eco_1321287.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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