"The waste of capital, in proportion to the total capital, in this country between 1800 and 1850, in the attempts which were made to establish means of communication and transportation, was enormous."
William Graham SumnerTiny Panda Quotes
Quotes by William Graham Sumner
William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) was a pioneering American sociologist, teacher, and advocate for classical liberalism. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, he was a prominent figure at Yale University, where his lectures on sociology and economics laid the groundwork for future social sciences. Sumner's commitment to individualism and free-market principles is encapsulated in his famous assertion that "the great curse of mankind is the ability to view the world through false lenses." His legacy endures in discussions of social Darwinism and economic theory, shaping both academic thought and public policy.
5 quotes found
"A drunkard in the gutter is just where he ought to be, according to the fitness and tendency of things. Nature has set upon him the process of decline and dissolution by which she removes things which have survived their usefulness."
William Graham Sumner"Before the tribunal of nature, a man has no more right to life than a rattlesnake; he has no more right to liberty than any wild beast; his right to the pursuit of happiness is nothing but a license to maintain the struggle for existence, if he can find within himself the powers with which to do it."
William Graham Sumner"It is remarkable that jealousy of individual property in land often goes along with very exaggerated doctrines of tribal or national property in land."
William Graham Sumner
"The criminal law needs to be improved to meet new forms of crime, but to denounce financial devices which are useful and legitimate because use is made of them for fraud, is ridiculous and unworthy of the age in which we live."
William Graham Sumner