--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The accumulation of capital involves the…" description: "\"The accumulation of capital involves the expansion of value over time.\" — David Harvey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/david-harvey-10654_accumulation_the-accumulation-of-capital-involves-the_938068.png" --- # The accumulation of capital involves the expansion of… ![“The accumulation of capital involves the expansion of value over time.” quote by David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/david-harvey-10654_accumulation_the-accumulation-of-capital-involves-the_938068.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/david-harvey-10654_accumulation_the-accumulation-of-capital-involves-the_938068.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/david-harvey-10654_accumulation_the-accumulation-of-capital-involves-the_938068.png) > “The accumulation of capital involves the expansion of value over time.” [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Capital grows as its value expands over time through reinvestment and profit. **In simple terms:** Capital increases by expanding value. Key Takeaway Invest with long‑term vision. Themes economics growth investment Mood analytical cautious Type theoretical practical When to use this quote - business planning - financial forecasting - policy making - personal finance Key Concepts capital accumulation value creation Questions to Reflect On - How does value expansion affect inequality? - What risks accompany capital accumulation? A Different Perspective Market volatility can undermine long‑term value growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accumulation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation/) [Accumulation Capital](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation-capital-937553/) [Expansion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expansion/) [Expansion Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expansion-value-1581782/) [Involves Expansion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/involves-expansion-1581781/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [Capitalism will never fall on its own. It will have to be pushed. The accumulation of capital will never cease. It will have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/capitalism-will-never-fall-on-its-own-it-will-have-to-be-pushed-the/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [The accumulation of capital and misery go hand in hand, concentrated in space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-accumulation-of-capital-and-misery-go-hand-in-hand-concentrated/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [“Only the unlimited accumulation of power could bring about the unlimited accumulation of capital.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/only-the-unlimited-accumulation-of-power-could-bring-about-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Remember that accumulated knowledge, like accumulated capital, increases at compound interest: but it differs from the accumulation of capital in this; that the increase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-babbage/remember-that-accumulated-knowledge-like-accumulated-capital/) [Charles Babbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-babbage/) > [“After the war, when the problem of deficient effective demand seemed to have faded into the background, a fresh question came to the fore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/after-the-war-when-the-problem-of-deficient-effective-demand-seemed/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [If then the prosperity of the commercial classes, will most certainly lead to accumulation of capital, and the encouragement of productive industry; these can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/if-then-the-prosperity-of-the-commercial-classes-will-most-certainly/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [“frenzy in the early capitalist states of Europe for gold, for slaves, for products of the soil, to pay the bondholders and stockholders of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/frenzy-in-the-early-capitalist-states-of-europe-for-gold-for-slaves/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“Capitalism is premised on the accumulation of capital, but under perfect competition all profits get competed away. The lesson for entrepreneurs is clear: if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-masters/capitalism-is-premised-on-the-accumulation-of-capital-but-under/) [Blake Masters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-masters/) > [“within the capitalist system all methods for raising the social productiveness of labour are brought about at the cost of the individual labourer; all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/within-the-capitalist-system-all-methods-for-raising-the-social/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [The concept of unlimited expansion that alone can fulfill the hope for unlimited accumulation of capital, and brings about the aimless accumulation of power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-concept-of-unlimited-expansion-that-alone-can-fulfill-the-hope/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [To complete the rout of traditionalists, in America an impression began to arise that the new industrial and acquisitive interests are the conservative interest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/to-complete-the-rout-of-traditionalists-in-america-an-impression/) [Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/) > [Neoliberalization has not been very effective in revitalizing global capital accumulation, but it has succeeded remarkably well in restoring, or in some instances (as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/neoliberalization-has-not-been-very-effective-in-revitalizing-global/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [If, for example, a conspiratorially minded elite is so powerful, has at its fingertips such multiple and delicate instruments with which to fine-tune accumulation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/if-for-example-a-conspiratorially-minded-elite-is-so-powerful-has-at/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [What sets imperialism of the capitalist sort apart from other conceptions of empire is that it is the capitalist logic that typically dominates, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/what-sets-imperialism-of-the-capitalist-sort-apart-from-other/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) ## More by David Harvey > [The main substantive achievement of neoliberalism has been to redistribute rather than to generate wealth and income.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-main-substantive-achievement-of-neoliberalism-has-been-to/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [We're supposed to live under capitalism, and capitalism is supposed to be competitive so you would expect that capitalists and entrepreneurs would like competition.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/we-re-supposed-to-live-under-capitalism-and-capitalism-is-supposed-to/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [There is, in short, no 'spatial fix' that can contain the contradictions of capitalism in the long run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/there-is-in-short-no-spatial-fix-that-can-contain-the-contradictions/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [The social relations of capitalism have penetrated slowly into all spheres of life to make wage labour the general condition of existence only in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-social-relations-of-capitalism-have-penetrated-slowly-into-all/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [If Occupy Wall Street can see their way to more collaboration with the union movement, then there will be a great deal of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/if-occupy-wall-street-can-see-their-way-to-more-collaboration-with/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [“This left, which strangely echoes a libertarian and even neoliberal ethic of ant-statism, is nurtured intellectually by thinkers such as Michel Foucault and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/this-left-which-strangely-echoes-a-libertarian-and-even-neoliberal/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [If, for example, a conspiratorially minded elite is so powerful, has at its fingertips such multiple and delicate instruments with which to fine-tune accumulation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/if-for-example-a-conspiratorially-minded-elite-is-so-powerful-has-at/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [The equilibrium between supply and demand is achieved only through a reaction against the upsetting of the equilibrium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-equilibrium-between-supply-and-demand-is-achieved-only-through-a/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [“In urbanisation, the suburbs are just as monocultural (as agriculture), with a lifestyle that maximises the excessive consumption of material goods in an astonishingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/in-urbanisation-the-suburbs-are-just-as-monocultural-as-agriculture/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [“Since the 1970S, financial innova­tions such as the securitisation of mortgage debt and the spreading of investment risks through the creation of derivative markets,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/since-the-1970s-financial-innova-tions-such-as-the-securitisation-of/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [The only solution to the contradictions of capitalism entails the abolition of wage labour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-only-solution-to-the-contradictions-of-capitalism-entails-the/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [Monetary relations have penetrated into every nook and cranny of the world and into almost every aspect of social, even private life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/monetary-relations-have-penetrated-into-every-nook-and-cranny-of-the/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [The net worth of the 358 richest people in the world was then found to be 'equal to the combined income of the poorest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-net-worth-of-the-358-richest-people-in-the-world-was-then-found/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [Not only must weapons be bought and paid for out of surpluses of capital and labour, but they must also be put to use.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/not-only-must-weapons-be-bought-and-paid-for-out-of-surpluses-of/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [There's a difference between an outburst of spontaneous anger, which doesn't have a political objective, and a more measured response that we saw in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/there-s-a-difference-between-an-outburst-of-spontaneous-anger-which/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) [Explore all 63 David Harvey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) ## More Accumulation quotes > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Before World War II, I was living a very cloistered existence, as most cartoonists do. The work I was pouring out did not come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/before-world-war-ii-i-was-living-a-very-cloistered-existence-as-most/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-accumulation-of-all-powers-legislative-executive-and-judiciary-in/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-think-that-only-daring-speculation-can-lead-us-further-and-not/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Karma is often wrongly confused with the notion of a fixed destiny. It is more like an accumulation of tendencies that can lock us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/karma-is-often-wrongly-confused-with-the-notion-of-a-fixed-destiny-it/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [There has been, for some reason (or more likely an unfortunate accumulation of reasons) a trend over the past several decades for parents to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-hax/there-has-been-for-some-reason-or-more-likely-an-unfortunate/) [Carolyn Hax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-hax/) > [Ageing is, simply and clearly, the accumulation of damage in the body. That's all that ageing is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-de-grey/ageing-is-simply-and-clearly-the-accumulation-of-damage-in-the-body/) [Aubrey de Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-de-grey/) > [For me, personally, there is one really interesting thing. You're all a bit too young for that, but when you get to a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-waltz/for-me-personally-there-is-one-really-interesting-thing-you-re-all-a/) [Christoph Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-waltz/) > [The mounting burden of taxation not only undermines individual incentives to increased work and earnings, but in a score of ways discourages capital accumulation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/the-mounting-burden-of-taxation-not-only-undermines-individual/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) > [When the accumulation of wealth is no longer of high social importance, there will be great changes in the code of morals. We shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/when-the-accumulation-of-wealth-is-no-longer-of-high-social/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-alexander-eastman/the-native-american-has-been-generally-despised-by-his-white/) [Charles Alexander Eastman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-alexander-eastman/) > [The soul lives forever by giving, not receiving. This is the grand paradox. You get most by giving most. Conversely, by receiving much you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-johnson/the-soul-lives-forever-by-giving-not-receiving-this-is-the-grand/) [Julian Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-johnson/) > [Forgiveness of the present is even more important than forgiveness of the past. If you forgive every moment - allow it to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/forgiveness-of-the-present-is-even-more-important-than-forgiveness-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/too-much-and-too-long-we-seem-to-have-surrendered-community/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) [Browse all 412 Accumulation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The accumulation of capital involves the expansion of value over time.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Harvey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-accumulation-of-capital-involves-the-expansion-of-value-over-time/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accumulation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-accumulation-of-capital-involves-the-expansion-of-value-over-time/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/david-harvey-10654_accumulation_the-accumulation-of-capital-involves-the_938068.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/david-harvey-10654_accumulation_the-accumulation-of-capital-involves-the_938068.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/david-harvey-10654_accumulation_the-accumulation-of-capital-involves-the_938068.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The accumulation of capital involves the expansion of value over time.” — David Harvey", "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": "David Harvey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The accumulation of capital involves the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-accumulation-of-capital-involves-the-expansion-of-value-over-time/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-accumulation-of-capital-involves-the-expansion-of-value-over-time/#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 } } ] } ```