“Men follow their sentiments and their self-interest, but it pleases them to imagine that they follow reason. And so they look for, and always find, some theory which, a posteriori, makes their actions appear to be logical. If that theory could be demolished scientifically, the only result would be that another theory would be substituted for the first one, and for the same purpose.”
Vilfredo Pareto
Manual of Political Economy (Primary source)
Manuale di economia politica, revised and expanded in French as Manuel d'économie politique (1909) and known in English as the Manual of Political Economy, is among the most important works in the history of economic thought.
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”History is a graveyard of aristocracies.”
— Vilfredo Pareto Primary source“The history of man is the history of the continuous replacement of certain elites: as one ascends, another declines.”
— Vilfredo Pareto Primary source“The new elite which seeks to supersede the old one, or merely to share its power and honors, does not admit to such an intention frankly and openly.”
— Vilfredo Pareto Primary source“Assume that the new elite were clearly and simply to proclaim its intentions which are to supplant the old elite; no one would come to its assistance, it would be defeated before having fought a battle. On the contrary, it appears to be asking nothing for itself, well knowing that without asking anything in advance it will obtain what it wants as a consequence of its victory.”
— Vilfredo Pareto Primary sourceMore quotes by Vilfredo Pareto →
“Good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“So convenient a thing is it to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
— Helen Keller Primary source“It was a bitter moment. Defeat is one thing; disgrace is another.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source