--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the absence of any short term in…" description: "\"In the absence of any short term in common use to represent all desirable things, or things that satisfy human wants, we may use the term Goods for tha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/alfred-marshall-19690_absence_in-the-absence-of-any-short-term-in-comm_2053202.png" --- # In the absence of any short term in common use to… ![“In the absence of any short term in common use to represent all desirable things, or things that satisfy human wants, we may use the term Goods for that purpose.” quote by Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/alfred-marshall-19690_absence_in-the-absence-of-any-short-term-in-comm_2053202.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/alfred-marshall-19690_absence_in-the-absence-of-any-short-term-in-comm_2053202.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/alfred-marshall-19690_absence_in-the-absence-of-any-short-term-in-comm_2053202.png) > “In the absence of any short term in common use to represent all desirable things, or things that satisfy human wants, we may use the term Goods for that purpose.” [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The term “goods” serves as a catch‑all for items satisfying human desires. **In simple terms:** Goods = things we want. Key Takeaway Use “goods” to discuss broad consumer needs. Themes economics consumer theory terminology value needs Mood analytical neutral Type theoretical educational When to use this quote - pricing strategy - policy analysis - market research - education Key Concepts utility market demand classification Questions to Reflect On - What items fall outside the “goods” definition? - How do intangible benefits fit? A Different Perspective “Goods” may overlook non‑material values. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Short term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-term/) ## Related quotes > [All wealth consists of desirable things; that is, things which satisfy human wants directly or indirectly: but not all desirable things are reckoned as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/all-wealth-consists-of-desirable-things-that-is-things-which-satisfy/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [All desirable things... are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or as a means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/all-desirable-things-are-desirable-either-for-the-pleasure-inherent/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [All the desirable things in life are either illegal, expensive or fattening or married to someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azgraybebly-joslan/all-the-desirable-things-in-life-are-either-illegal-expensive-or-2/) Azgraybebly Joslan > [“There is a distinction between going after desirable things in life and needing them for our happiness. We can go after those things with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiram-crespo/there-is-a-distinction-between-going-after-desirable-things-in-life/) [Hiram Crespo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiram-crespo/) > [All desirable things in life are either banned, expensive, illegal or married to someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-desirable-things-in-life-are-either-banned-expensive-illegal-or/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All The Desirable Things In Life Are Either Illegal, Expensive Or Married :](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/all-the-desirable-things-in-life-are-either-illegal-expensive-or/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Common sense is both more rare and more desirable in leaders than mere intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/common-sense-is-both-more-rare-and-more-desirable-in-leaders-than/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I don't just live to work because I don't think that's healthy or desirable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harris-dickinson/i-don-t-just-live-to-work-because-i-don-t-think-that-s-healthy-or/) [Harris Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harris-dickinson/) > [What seems so necessary today may not even be desirable tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/what-seems-so-necessary-today-may-not-even-be-desirable-tomorrow/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“The great thing about facts is that you don't have to ponder whether they're desirable or not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/the-great-thing-about-facts-is-that-you-don-t-have-to-ponder-whether/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [The goal in raising one's child is to enable him, first, to discover who he wants to be, and then to become a person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-bettelheim/the-goal-in-raising-one-s-child-is-to-enable-him-first-to-discover/) [Bruno Bettelheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-bettelheim/) > [Things to be done offer themselves, I suppose, because they are in themselves desirable; not because it is desirable to have something to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/things-to-be-done-offer-themselves-i-suppose-because-they-are-in/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [It was both necessary and desirable for us to be so strong at sea that no Sea Power could attack us without risk, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-von-bulow/it-was-both-necessary-and-desirable-for-us-to-be-so-strong-at-sea/) [Bernhard von Bulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-von-bulow/) > [I'm happy to be considered desirable. I love it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sarandon/i-m-happy-to-be-considered-desirable-i-love-it/) [Susan Sarandon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sarandon/) > [At times of recession, running a budget deficit is highly desirable. Once the economy begins to recover, you have to balance the budget. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/at-times-of-recession-running-a-budget-deficit-is-highly-desirable/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) ## More by Alfred Marshall > [I admit that these terms and the diagrams connected with them repel some readers, and fill others with the vain imagination that they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/i-admit-that-these-terms-and-the-diagrams-connected-with-them-repel/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [“(1) Use mathematics as shorthand language, rather than as an engine of inquiry. (2) Keep to them till you have done. (3) Translate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/1-use-mathematics-as-shorthand-language-rather-than-as-an-engine-of/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [The price of every thing rises and falls from time to time and place to place; and with every such change the purchasing power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/the-price-of-every-thing-rises-and-falls-from-time-to-time-and-place/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [Nature's action is complex: and nothing is gained in the long run by pretending that it is simple, and trying to describe it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/nature-s-action-is-complex-and-nothing-is-gained-in-the-long-run-by/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [All wealth consists of desirable things; that is, things which satisfy human wants directly or indirectly: but not all desirable things are reckoned as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/all-wealth-consists-of-desirable-things-that-is-things-which-satisfy/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [Knowledge is our most powerful engine of production.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/knowledge-is-our-most-powerful-engine-of-production/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [And very often the influence exerted on a person's character by the amount of his income is hardly less, if it is less, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/and-very-often-the-influence-exerted-on-a-person-s-character-by-the/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [In common use almost every word has many shades of meaning, and therefore needs to be interpreted by the context.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/in-common-use-almost-every-word-has-many-shades-of-meaning-and/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [The hope that poverty and ignorance may gradually be extinguished derives indeed much support from the steady progress of the working classes during the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/the-hope-that-poverty-and-ignorance-may-gradually-be-extinguished/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [Though a simple book can be written on selected topics, the central doctrines of economics are not simple and cannot be made so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/though-a-simple-book-can-be-written-on-selected-topics-the-central/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [The hope that poverty and ignorance may gradually be extinguished, derives indeed much support from the steady progress of the working classes during the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/the-hope-that-poverty-and-ignorance-may-gradually-be-extinguished-2/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [Again, most of the chief distinctions marked by economic terms are differences not of kind but of degree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/again-most-of-the-chief-distinctions-marked-by-economic-terms-are/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [But if inventions have increased man's power over nature very much, then the real value of money is better measured for some purposes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/but-if-inventions-have-increased-man-s-power-over-nature-very-much/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [Slavery was regarded by Aristotle as an ordinance of nature, and so probably was it by the slaves themselves in olden time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/slavery-was-regarded-by-aristotle-as-an-ordinance-of-nature-and-so/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [We might as well reasonably dispute whether it is the upper or the under blade of a pair of scissors that cuts a piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/we-might-as-well-reasonably-dispute-whether-it-is-the-upper-or-the/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) [Explore all 32 Alfred Marshall quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) ## More Absence quotes > [Distance sometimes endears friendship, and absence sweeteneth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howell/distance-sometimes-endears-friendship-and-absence-sweeteneth-it/) [James Howell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howell/) > [The work, the work, the work. This is what the business is all about. This is the fun, the glory, the pleasure. It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-dusenberry/the-work-the-work-the-work-this-is-what-the-business-is-all-about/) [Phil Dusenberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-dusenberry/) > [Total depravity means the entire absence of holiness, not the highest intensity of sin. A totally depraved man is not as bad as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-greenough-thayer-shedd/total-depravity-means-the-entire-absence-of-holiness-not-the-highest/) [William Greenough Thayer Shedd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-greenough-thayer-shedd/) > [Local and state governments have outrun the federal government. The EPA has served notice that it will enact a rule requiring CO2 reductions by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/local-and-state-governments-have-outrun-the-federal-government-the/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/of-all-the-bewildering-things-about-a-new-country-the-absence-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Young men have strong passions and tend to gratify them indiscriminately. Of the bodily desires, it is the sexual by which they are most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/young-men-have-strong-passions-and-tend-to-gratify-them/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [It is suggested that in domestic violence at least the presence or absence of a firearm, or of any other type of weapon, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-greenwood/it-is-suggested-that-in-domestic-violence-at-least-the-presence-or/) [Colin Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-greenwood/) > [The absence of God in most spheres of life is perceived to be normal, and even Christians feel it as normal - which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/the-absence-of-god-in-most-spheres-of-life-is-perceived-to-be-normal/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/every-person-needs-to-take-one-day-away-a-day-in-which-one/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“I was thinking how most people don't make you feel much of anything at all. Don't make you feel like time spent with them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-lotter/i-was-thinking-how-most-people-don-t-make-you-feel-much-of-anything/) [Jane Lotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-lotter/) > [Cooperation isn't the absence of conflict but a means of managing conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/cooperation-isn-t-the-absence-of-conflict-but-a-means-of-managing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [Many are observing Ferguson and witnessing the anger, demonstrations, looting and vandalism and calling for quiet. But quiet isn't enough. The absence of noise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/many-are-observing-ferguson-and-witnessing-the-anger-demonstrations/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [Will capitalist economies operate at full employment in the absence of routine intervention? Certainly not. Are deviations from full employment a social problem? Obviously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-yellen/will-capitalist-economies-operate-at-full-employment-in-the-absence/) [Janet Yellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-yellen/) > [We must begin by acknowledging that there is a complete absence of two things in Indian Society. One of these is equality. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-r-ambedkar/we-must-begin-by-acknowledging-that-there-is-a-complete-absence-of/) [B. R. Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-r-ambedkar/) [Browse all 2,057 Absence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the absence of any short term in common use to represent all desirable things, or things that satisfy human wants, we may use the term Goods for that purpose.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alfred Marshall" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/in-the-absence-of-any-short-term-in-common-use-to-represent-all/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/in-the-absence-of-any-short-term-in-common-use-to-represent-all/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/alfred-marshall-19690_absence_in-the-absence-of-any-short-term-in-comm_2053202.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/alfred-marshall-19690_absence_in-the-absence-of-any-short-term-in-comm_2053202.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/alfred-marshall-19690_absence_in-the-absence-of-any-short-term-in-comm_2053202.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the absence of any short term in common use to represent all desirable things, or things that satisfy…” — Alfred Marshall", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alfred Marshall", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In the absence of any short...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/in-the-absence-of-any-short-term-in-common-use-to-represent-all/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/in-the-absence-of-any-short-term-in-common-use-to-represent-all/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```