Pareto Quotes

This is known as the Pareto criterion and forms the basis for all judgements on social improvements in Neoclassical economics today. ~ Ha-Joon Chang

Only an unsatisfied preference is bad. In other words, he argues that although it is good to have fulfilled whatever desires one might have, one is not better off having a fulfilled desire than having no desire at all. By way of example, consider the case in which we 'paint the tree nearest to Sydney Opera house red and give Kate a pill that makes her wish that the tree nearest to Sydney Opera House were red'*. Professor Fehige plausibly denies that we do Kate any favour in doing this. She is no better off than had we done nothing. What matters is not that people have satisfied desires but that they do not have unsatisfied ones. It is the avoidance of frustration that is important.

* Fehige, Christoph, 'A Pareto Principle for Possible People', 513–14. ~ David Benatar

Above, far above the prejudices and passions of men soar the laws of nature. Eternal and immutable, they are the expression of the creative power they represent what is, what must be, what otherwise could not be. Man can come to understand the: he is incapable of changing them. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

Increase in the wealth per capita fosters democracy; but the latter, at least according to what we have been able to observe up to now, entails great destruction of wealth and even eventually dries up the sources of it. Hence it is its own grave-digger, it destroys what gave it birth. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

Society is not homogeneous, and those who do not deliberately close their eyes have to recognize that men differ greatly from one another from the physical, moral, and intellectual viewpoints. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

Usually, so far as improvement in the people's economic conditions is concerned, humanitarians simply play the role of the busybody. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

Among civilized peoples, especially the very wealthy population of the United States of America, women have become objects of luxury who consume but do not produce. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

Give me a fruitful error anytime, full of seeds, bursting with its own corrections. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

In any series of elements to be controlled, a selected small fraction, in terms of numbers of elements, always accounts for a large fraction in terms of effect. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

20% of management theories are responsible for 80% of results. That's assuming the Pareto Principle makes the cut. ~ Ryan Lilly

All governments use force and all assert that they are founded on reason. In fact, whether universal suffrage prevails or not, it is always an oligarchy that governs, finding ways to give to'the will of the people'the expression which the few desire. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

Human behaviour reveals uniformities which constitute natural laws. If these uniformities did not exist, then there would be neither social science nor political economy, and even the study of history would largely be useless. In effect, if the future actions of men having nothing in common with their past actions, our knowledge of them, although possibly satisfying our curiosity by way of an interesting story, would be entirely useless to us as a guide in life. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

Give me the fruitful error any time, full of seeds, bursting with its own corrections. You can keep your sterile truth for yourself. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

Doing less is not being lazy. Don't give in to a culture that values personal sacrifice over personal productivity. ~ Timothy Ferriss

Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. ~ Dale Carnegie

An idea is nothing more or less than a new combination of old elements (Quoted from Vilfredo Pareto) ~ James Webb Young

If you're Noah, and your ark is about to sink, look for the elephants first, because you can throw over a bunch of cats, dogs, squirrels, and everything else that is just a small animal and your ark will keep sinking. But if you can find one elephant to get overboard, you're in much better shape. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

When it is useful to them, men can believe a theory of which they know nothing more than its name. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

The diverse natures of men, combined with the necessity to satisfy in some manner the sentiment which desires them to be equal, has had the result that in the democracies they have endeavored to provide the appearance of power in the people and the reality of power in an elite. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

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

There are some people who imagine that they can disarm their enemy by complacent flattery. They are wrong. The world has always belonged to the stronger and will belong to them for many years to come. Men only respect those who make themselves respected. Whoever becomes a lamb will find a wolf to eat him. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

The economic and social theories used by those who take part in the social struggle ought to be judged not by their objective value but primarily for their effectiveness in arousing emotions. The scientific refutation of them which can be made is useless, however correct it may be objectively. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

It is a know fact that almost all revolutions have been the work, not of the common people, but of the aristocracy, and especially of the decayed part of the aristocracy. ~ Vilfredo Pareto

My wish is to construct a system of sociology on the model of celestial mechanics, physics, and chemistry. ~ Vilfredo Pareto