--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Corporations, like nations, do not have…" description: "\"Corporations, like nations, do not have friends. They have interests.\" — Ari Melber" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/509/ari-melber-6528_corporations_corporations-like-nations-do-not-have-fr_822107.jpg" --- # Corporations, like nations, do not have friends. They have… ![“Corporations, like nations, do not have friends. They have interests.” quote by Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/509/ari-melber-6528_corporations_corporations-like-nations-do-not-have-fr_822107.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/509/ari-melber-6528_corporations_corporations-like-nations-do-not-have-fr_822107.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/509/ari-melber-6528_corporations_corporations-like-nations-do-not-have-fr_822107.jpg) > “Corporations, like nations, do not have friends. They have interests.” [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Corporations prioritize their own goals over personal relationships, similar to nations. **In simple terms:** Corporations act on interests, not friendships. Key Takeaway Recognize corporate motives. Themes business politics relationships Mood cautious analytical Type political observational When to use this quote - investment decisions - policy negotiations - corporate partnerships Key Concepts interest alignment realpolitik Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate genuine partnership from strategic interest? - What role should ethics play in corporate decisions? A Different Perspective Corporate actions may also be driven by ethical considerations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Corporations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporations/) [Corporations Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporations-like-481697/) [Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends/) [Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like/) [Like Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-nations-481699/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Nations Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations-friends-481698/) ## Related quotes > [I made commercials for corporations like Volkswagen and Coca-Cola, but I was always the one to write them, too, which was a very good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-made-commercials-for-corporations-like-volkswagen-and-coca-cola-but/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“This reminded him of Alvis Bender's contention that stories were like nations - Italy, a great epic poem, Britain, a thick novel, America, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/this-reminded-him-of-alvis-bender-s-contention-that-stories-were-like/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [America, like all nations, has to renounce war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-creme/america-like-all-nations-has-to-renounce-war/) [Benjamin Creme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-creme/) > [After all, you're not exactly a nation like all the other nations. You are unique, if only because you are such an ancient people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-marie-le-pen/after-all-you-re-not-exactly-a-nation-like-all-the-other-nations-you/) [Jean-Marie Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-marie-le-pen/) > [People are like nations-if you help them a lot, they hate you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/people-are-like-nations-if-you-help-them-a-lot-they-hate-you/) [Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/) > [A corporation is simply a form of organization used by human beings to achieve desired ends... 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They are not surprised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/people-with-long-memories-and-a-vivid-sense-of-the-past-have-an/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [It makes no sense to talk of the social obligations of the corporation without reference to its economic obligations. The two are intertwined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-r-raymond/it-makes-no-sense-to-talk-of-the-social-obligations-of-the/) [Lee R. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-r-raymond/) ## More by Ari Melber > [It always rankled me - in law school and the legal profession - when lawyers would speak to each other in their own exclusive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/it-always-rankled-me-in-law-school-and-the-legal-profession-when/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [Progressive bloggers should not only write on behalf of the members of America's underclass but also empower them to join the discussion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/progressive-bloggers-should-not-only-write-on-behalf-of-the-members/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [Law and politics are often overly complicated because there are people that don't want the rest of us to know what's going on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/law-and-politics-are-often-overly-complicated-because-there-are/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [News may not be very profitable anymore, but it sure is popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/news-may-not-be-very-profitable-anymore-but-it-sure-is-popular/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [The president's powers are always open to being questioned by the co-equal branches of government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/the-president-s-powers-are-always-open-to-being-questioned-by-the-co/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [Like any good lawyer, I'm going to maintain a confidentiality of advice offered in confidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/like-any-good-lawyer-i-m-going-to-maintain-a-confidentiality-of/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [The Tea Party movement's economic agenda is a matter of emphasis, not exclusion. This is not a single-issue group.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/the-tea-party-movement-s-economic-agenda-is-a-matter-of-emphasis-not/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [Why do Tea Party backers oppose abortion at higher rates than their traditional GOP cohort? Religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/why-do-tea-party-backers-oppose-abortion-at-higher-rates-than-their/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [Companies like YouTube will continue to be tested on their commitment to the mission that made them such popular and profitable websites - providing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/companies-like-youtube-will-continue-to-be-tested-on-their-commitment/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [Navigating a battle between partisan, progressive organizing and decentralized petition drives is, at bottom, like trying to choose between the Democratic Party and democracy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/navigating-a-battle-between-partisan-progressive-organizing-and/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [Politics has certainly changed a lot in an era of micro-targeting, Super PACs, and Twitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/politics-has-certainly-changed-a-lot-in-an-era-of-micro-targeting/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [Political operatives don't tend to be existentialists. They do know, however, that if a supporter doesn't vote, then his or her opinion does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/political-operatives-don-t-tend-to-be-existentialists-they-do-know/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [I do listen to Drake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/i-do-listen-to-drake/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [Only in Washington can the pursuit of a conservative agenda, with centrist policies, be depicted as liberal reform.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/only-in-washington-can-the-pursuit-of-a-conservative-agenda-with/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [My job is to be accurate and clear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/my-job-is-to-be-accurate-and-clear/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) [Explore all 99 Ari Melber quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) ## More Corporations quotes > [It makes no sense to talk of the social obligations of the corporation without reference to its economic obligations. The two are intertwined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-r-raymond/it-makes-no-sense-to-talk-of-the-social-obligations-of-the/) [Lee R. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-r-raymond/) > [I've long believed one of the mainsprings of our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people and the expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-ve-long-believed-one-of-the-mainsprings-of-our-own-liberty-has-been/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Everything affects hip-hop. The question is, how does it affect the money that corporations are going to invest to put out different kinds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-i-am/everything-affects-hip-hop-the-question-is-how-does-it-affect-the/) [will.i.am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-i-am/) > [Corporations have nothing to do with values, and they know it, and sometimes say it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kierans/corporations-have-nothing-to-do-with-values-and-they-know-it-and/) [Eric Kierans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kierans/) > [Corporations invest in sophisticated CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, programs to effectively oversee their relationship with their customers at every point during the buying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ostrofsky/corporations-invest-in-sophisticated-crm-or-customer-relationship/) [Marc Ostrofsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ostrofsky/) > [“Whatever happened in those more than one hundred years, from the time my great-great-great grandfather studied law to the time when my own father…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwenn-wright/whatever-happened-in-those-more-than-one-hundred-years-from-the-time/) [Gwenn Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwenn-wright/) > [I am somewhat influenced by the years that I've spent trying to actually get things done, whether it was reforming education in Arkansas or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-am-somewhat-influenced-by-the-years-that-i-ve-spent-trying-to/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [There are questions as to whether it should even exist. Who should corporations be responsive to, the management of a corporation? Theoretically they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-questions-as-to-whether-it-should-even-exist-who-should/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“Subsequently there ensues an epoch of complex, proliferating intrigues and conspiracies among the ranks of double agents, whose agendas become so densely intertwined that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/subsequently-there-ensues-an-epoch-of-complex-proliferating-intrigues/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [I'm not only a fan of Apple products, I have stock in the company. I think Steve Jobs has started one of the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kid-rock/i-m-not-only-a-fan-of-apple-products-i-have-stock-in-the-company-i/) [Kid Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kid-rock/) > [At Epcot Center the Disney corporation has focused its attention on two things greatly in need of Disneyfication: the tedious future and the annoying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/at-epcot-center-the-disney-corporation-has-focused-its-attention-on/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-can-be-no-effective-control-of-corporations-while-their/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Since FDR's New Deal, corporations and wealthy families have been non-stop finding new ways to get tax breaks, deregulation and entitlements from the government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-mckay/since-fdr-s-new-deal-corporations-and-wealthy-families-have-been-non/) [Adam McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-mckay/) > [There's a whole journalistic-industrial complex dedicated to keeping newsprint, TV screens and radio waves clean of destabilizing scoops damaging to corporations or the state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-cockburn/there-s-a-whole-journalistic-industrial-complex-dedicated-to-keeping/) [Alexander Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-cockburn/) > [They're counting on your patriotism to distract you from their plunder. They're counting on you to be standing at attention with your hand over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/they-re-counting-on-your-patriotism-to-distract-you-from-their/) [Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/) [Browse all 1,673 Corporations quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporations/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Corporations, like nations, do not have friends. 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