--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Dollar bills have absolutely no value…" description: "\"Dollar bills have absolutely no value except in our collective imagination, but everybody believes in the dollar bill.\" — Yuval Noah Harari" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/yuval-noah-harari-100_dollar_dollar-bills-have-absolutely-no-value-ex_682780.jpg" --- # Dollar bills have absolutely no value except in our… ![“Dollar bills have absolutely no value except in our collective imagination, but everybody believes in the dollar bill.” quote by Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/yuval-noah-harari-100_dollar_dollar-bills-have-absolutely-no-value-ex_682780.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/yuval-noah-harari-100_dollar_dollar-bills-have-absolutely-no-value-ex_682780.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/yuval-noah-harari-100_dollar_dollar-bills-have-absolutely-no-value-ex_682780.jpg) > “Dollar bills have absolutely no value except in our collective imagination, but everybody believes in the dollar bill.” [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Money’s value is a collective belief; without shared trust it would be meaningless. **In simple terms:** Money works because we all agree it does. Key Takeaway Recognize the power of shared belief systems. Themes economics psychology culture trust Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - budgeting - investment decisions - policy making - education curricula Key Concepts social constructs monetary systems collective imagination Questions to Reflect On - What shared beliefs shape our economies? - How can we protect against belief erosion? A Different Perspective Belief can be manipulated, causing instability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believes Dollar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believes-dollar-5398717/) [Bills Absolutely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bills-absolutely-5398718/) [Dollar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dollar/) [Dollar bills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dollar-bills/) [Everybody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everybody/) [Everybody Believes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everybody-believes-244165/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value/) ## Related quotes > [“When everybody uses the same oracle, and everybody believes the oracle, the oracle turns into a sovereign.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/when-everybody-uses-the-same-oracle-and-everybody-believes-the-oracle-2/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“When everybody uses the same oracle, and everybody believes the oracle, the oracle turns into a sovereign. So Waze must think for us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/when-everybody-uses-the-same-oracle-and-everybody-believes-the-oracle/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [Nothing should be taken for granted, even if everybody believes it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/nothing-should-be-taken-for-granted-even-if-everybody-believes-it/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [I'm not gonna deny it, I walk around with hundred dollar bills hanging out of my pocket.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cris-collinsworth/i-m-not-gonna-deny-it-i-walk-around-with-hundred-dollar-bills-hanging/) [Cris Collinsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cris-collinsworth/) > [Strip Clubs & Dollar Bills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rihanna/strip-clubs-dollar-bills/) [Rihanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rihanna/) > [Pyramiding instructions appear on dollar bills. Add smaller and smaller amounts on the way up. Keep your eye open at the top.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-seykota/pyramiding-instructions-appear-on-dollar-bills-add-smaller-and/) [Ed Seykota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-seykota/) > [Some people are like dollar bills, you put them up to the light and then see through them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-j-hernandez/some-people-are-like-dollar-bills-you-put-them-up-to-the-light-and/) [Felix J Hernandez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-j-hernandez/) > [Throw your dollar bills and leave your thrills all here with me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seether/throw-your-dollar-bills-and-leave-your-thrills-all-here-with-me/) [Seether](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seether/) > [Life shouldn't be printed on dollar bills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-odets/life-shouldn-t-be-printed-on-dollar-bills/) [Clifford Odets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-odets/) > [In terms of coke, the only money I ever thought about was that dollar bill I had stuck up my nose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/in-terms-of-coke-the-only-money-i-ever-thought-about-was-that-dollar/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [If you put a ten dollar bill under the rug instead of spending it, that is capital formation. It represents ten dollars' worth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/if-you-put-a-ten-dollar-bill-under-the-rug-instead-of-spending-it/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [You’re not a one hundred dollar bill, not everyone is going to like you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-cabot/you-re-not-a-one-hundred-dollar-bill-not-everyone-is-going-to-like-you/) [Meg Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-cabot/) > [ I think what everybody believes and agrees with, and to be frank myself, is that the current approach \[to the drug trade\] is not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-harper/i-think-what-everybody-believes-and-agrees-with-and-to-be-frank/) [Stephen Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-harper/) > [You know, everybody believes in free speech until you start questioning them about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-flynt/you-know-everybody-believes-in-free-speech-until-you-start/) [Larry Flynt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-flynt/) > [It is easier to argue that something nobody believes in actually exists than it is to argue that something everybody believes in is unreal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/it-is-easier-to-argue-that-something-nobody-believes-in-actually/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) ## More by Yuval Noah Harari > [“For similar reasons, archaic humans did not initiate any revolutions. As far as we can tell, changes in social patterns, the invention of new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/for-similar-reasons-archaic-humans-did-not-initiate-any-revolutions/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Today the main source of wealth is knowledge. And whereas you can conquer oil fields through war, you cannot acquire knowledge that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/today-the-main-source-of-wealth-is-knowledge-and-whereas-you-can/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? First, you never admit that the order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/how-do-you-cause-people-to-believe-in-an-imagined-order-such-as/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [I think the basic thing that happened is we have lost our story. Humans think in stories, and we try to make sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/i-think-the-basic-thing-that-happened-is-we-have-lost-our-story/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas chimpanzees spend five hours a day chewing raw food, a single hour suffices for people eating cooked food. The advent of cooking enabled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-chimpanzees-spend-five-hours-a-day-chewing-raw-food-a-single/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“the Chinese air-purification market is booming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-chinese-air-purification-market-is-booming/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas liberalism merged with the milder versions of nationalism to protect the unique experiences of each human community, evolutionary humanists such as Hitler identified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-liberalism-merged-with-the-milder-versions-of-nationalism-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Corporations, money and nations exist only in our imagination. We invented them to serve us; why do we find ourselves sacrificing our lives in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/corporations-money-and-nations-exist-only-in-our-imagination-we/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Small children in affluent societies often dislike showering, and it takes them years of education and parental discipline to adopt this supposedly attractive custom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/small-children-in-affluent-societies-often-dislike-showering-and-it/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Ever more scholars see cultures as a kind of mental infection or parasite, with humans as its unwitting host. Organic parasites, such as viruses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/ever-more-scholars-see-cultures-as-a-kind-of-mental-infection-or/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Soviet Communism was a fanatical and missionary religion. A devout Communist could not be a Christian or a Buddhist, and was expected to spread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/soviet-communism-was-a-fanatical-and-missionary-religion-a-devout/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas religion asks us to believe in something, money asks us to believe that other people believe in something”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-religion-asks-us-to-believe-in-something-money-asks-us-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Terrorists are like a fly that tries to destroy a china shop. The fly is so weak that it cannot budge even a single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/terrorists-are-like-a-fly-that-tries-to-destroy-a-china-shop-the-fly/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Yet what happens if the greedy shoemaker increases his profits by paying employees less and increasing their work hours? The standard answer is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/yet-what-happens-if-the-greedy-shoemaker-increases-his-profits-by/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“A natural order is a stable order. There is no chance that gravity will cease to function tomorrow, even if people stop believing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/a-natural-order-is-a-stable-order-there-is-no-chance-that-gravity/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) [Explore all 1,200 Yuval Noah Harari quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## More Dollar quotes > [I love being in Malibu. It's so cool there, and the water is just, it's nice and, and I love the beach. And I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-evancho/i-love-being-in-malibu-it-s-so-cool-there-and-the-water-is-just-it-s/) [Jackie Evancho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-evancho/) > [When the dollar collapses, it's not doing it in a vacuum. If the dollar loses value, it's doing so relative to some other currency.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/when-the-dollar-collapses-it-s-not-doing-it-in-a-vacuum-if-the-dollar/) [Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/) > [It's a great story for us whenever an entrepreneur makes a crazy amount of money and we get to tell the world about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lacy/it-s-a-great-story-for-us-whenever-an-entrepreneur-makes-a-crazy/) [Sarah Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lacy/) > [Single as a dollar and not looking for change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/single-as-a-dollar-and-not-looking-for-change/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If I had a dollar for every time you've fucked me over, I'd move far, far away from you, and never see you again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-reitz/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-you-ve-fucked-me-over-i-d-move-far/) [Jesse Reitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-reitz/) > [The more competitive value of the dollar turned around the trade deficit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-feldstein/the-more-competitive-value-of-the-dollar-turned-around-the-trade/) [Martin Feldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-feldstein/) > [America is the country where you can buy a lifetime supply of aspirin For one dollar and use it up in two weeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barrymore/america-is-the-country-where-you-can-buy-a-lifetime-supply-of-aspirin/) [John Barrymore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barrymore/) > [Tinseltown really likes to think that they have a handle on all things 'love.' After all, they've turned it into a billion dollar industry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-crowder/tinseltown-really-likes-to-think-that-they-have-a-handle-on-all/) [Steven Crowder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-crowder/) > [Again, a franchise to me doesn't have to be a billion dollar title.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fincher/again-a-franchise-to-me-doesn-t-have-to-be-a-billion-dollar-title/) [David Fincher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fincher/) > [Investors like to hear that you're in a multi-billion dollar market.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-seibel/investors-like-to-hear-that-you-re-in-a-multi-billion-dollar-market/) [Michael Seibel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-seibel/) > [That's how the Pell Grant system works, in that you get a flat dollar amount, and you can use it for tuition or room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-schatz/that-s-how-the-pell-grant-system-works-in-that-you-get-a-flat-dollar/) [Brian Schatz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-schatz/) > [I recognize that Republicans see a moral difference between a dollar taken away from a millionaire in government benefits and a dollar taken away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-noah/i-recognize-that-republicans-see-a-moral-difference-between-a-dollar/) [Timothy Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-noah/) > [The value of a dollar is to buy just things; a dollar goes on increasing in value with all the genius and all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-value-of-a-dollar-is-to-buy-just-things-a-dollar-goes-on/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [As treasury secretary, I don't see it as my role commenting on the dollar in short-term movements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-mnuchin/as-treasury-secretary-i-don-t-see-it-as-my-role-commenting-on-the/) [Steve Mnuchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-mnuchin/) > [The fear is that if the dollar falls below 50% of the currency basket held by commercial and central banks and insurance companies, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porter-stansberry/the-fear-is-that-if-the-dollar-falls-below-50-of-the-currency-basket/) [Porter Stansberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porter-stansberry/) [Browse all 527 Dollar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dollar/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Dollar bills have absolutely no value except in our collective imagination, but everybody believes in the dollar bill.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Yuval Noah Harari" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/dollar-bills-have-absolutely-no-value-except-in-our-collective/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dollar" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/dollar-bills-have-absolutely-no-value-except-in-our-collective/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/yuval-noah-harari-100_dollar_dollar-bills-have-absolutely-no-value-ex_682780.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/yuval-noah-harari-100_dollar_dollar-bills-have-absolutely-no-value-ex_682780.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/yuval-noah-harari-100_dollar_dollar-bills-have-absolutely-no-value-ex_682780.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Dollar bills have absolutely no value except in our collective imagination, but everybody believes in the…” — Yuval Noah Harari", "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": "Yuval Noah Harari", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Dollar bills have absolutely no value...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/dollar-bills-have-absolutely-no-value-except-in-our-collective/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/dollar-bills-have-absolutely-no-value-except-in-our-collective/#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 } } ] } ```