110+ Ben Stein Quotes On Education, Politics And Money

Ben Stein was an American actor, writer, lawyer, and commentator. He is best known for his roles in the films Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Mask, as well as for his appearances on the Comedy Central game show Win Ben Stein's Money. He was also a frequent contributor to the Fox News Channel, writing articles and appearing on various programs. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Ben Stein on education, politics, leadership.

Top 10 Ben Stein Quotes

1. The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.
2. If you can't stand the heat, don't go to Cancun in the summer.
3. It's amazing what ordinary people can do if they set out without preconceived notions.
4. Every soul deserves a shot at a Cadillac, but not everyone should be guaranteed a Cadillac.
5. So many fail because they don't get started - they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin.
6. Personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success, all achievement in real life grows.
7. Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... But not everyone must prove they are a citizen.
8. Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.
9. The human spirit needs to accomplish, to achieve, to triumph to be happy.
10. Jump into the middle of things, get your hands dirty, fall flat on your face, and then reach for the stars.

Ben Stein Short Quotes

• As Beverly Hills becomes more Iranian-Jewish, it is becoming politically conservative.
• No one will do it for you.
• Science leads you to killing people.
• Somewhere there is a map of how it can be done.
• You can do what you think you can do and you cannot do what you think you cannot
• If there is no God, why bother to tell the truth? Why not steal?
• Politics is a thankless occupation; I have no interest in it at all.
• I love sleeping in a moving car more than sleeping in bed.
• Running a real business is exacting, daunting, repetitive work. Even in Silicon Valley.
• The poor black people in it make the black people in Gone With the Wind look like Malcolm X.

Ben Stein Quotes About Money

I don't believe the most successful people are the ones who got the best grades, got into the best schools, or made the most money. — Ben Stein

The education system should teach us about money; it's an incredibly big subject. I run into people all the time that don't have the first clue of what they should do about money. — Ben Stein

I'd say the main way people get into terrible financial trouble is just to spend too much money relative to their income, and that is an endemic problem in the United States of America, and that's the kind of thing that should be taught about in schools. — Ben Stein

I have always been very diversified, so I have never suffered a catastrophic loss. I spread my money around the way a large institutional investor does. I use different brokerage firms. I manage some of my accounts myself. — Ben Stein

If there's a recession, I'd buy stocks. That's when you make money: when markets are spooked. — Ben Stein

I am scared of running out of money. — Ben Stein

Ben Stein Quotes About Life

The successful people of this world take life as it comes. They just go out and deal with the world as it is. — Ben Stein

You must take the first step. The first steps will take some effort, maybe pain. But after that, everything that has to be done is real-life movement. — Ben Stein

It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated... it is finished when it surrenders. — Ben Stein

I've never liked the idea of just having an office in a college somewhere and teaching classes and going to the library and doing research all day. I've never wanted that. The glamorous life is the life that appeals to me. — Ben Stein

I think a snob would be a person who thinks he is entitled; he has good things in his life and is entitled to them. — Ben Stein

And there hasn't been much progress in Darwinism since [the life of Darwin]. — Ben Stein

I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it sis my duty ... This is my highest and best use as a human. — Ben Stein

There's no evidence whatsoever that Darwin had anything useful to say or anything to say period about how life began or how the universe began or how gravity began or how physics began or fluid motion or how thermodynamics began. He had nothing to say about that whatsoever. — Ben Stein

I am so used to having a comfortable life. What will it be like when I am no longer able to just buy anything I want? — Ben Stein

The first step in getting what you want from life-decide what you want. — Ben Stein

Ben Stein Famous Quotes And Sayings

I do all of the grocery shopping in my little family. I buy cheese, of many different kinds, sliced packaged meats and poultry, bagels, immense quantities of eggs, pre-made fried chicken. Milk. Bacon. It is insane how much dairy, deli and bakery stuff I buy. — Ben Stein

Screaming at children over their grades, especially to the point of the child's tears, is child abuse, pure and simple. It's not funny and it's not good parenting. It is a crushing, scarring, disastrous experience for the child. It isn't the least bit funny. — Ben Stein

Nothing happens by itself... it all will come your way, once you understand that you have to make it come your way, by your own exertions. — Ben Stein

I don't consider an actor a star if he's paid $20 million and grimaces in front of the camera and has a stunt man stand in for him. They may be fine actors, but they're not role models. The real stars are wearing body armor in 130-degree heat . . . They're getting shot at and they don't have any stunt doubles standing in for them. — Ben Stein

If we are just specks of dust hit by lightning, if we have no spark of God in us, why not just take whatever we can and devil take the hindmost? I mean, we are fools not to do that if there is no right or wrong. — Ben Stein

It's really amazing that in the age of unbelief, as a smart man called it, there isn't even more fraud. After all, with no God, there's no one to ever call you to account, and no accounting at all if you can get away with it. — Ben Stein

I cannot tell you ... how to be rich. But I can tell you how to feel rich, which is far better, let me tell you firsthand, than being rich. Be grateful... It is the only totally reliable get rich quick scheme. — Ben Stein

Darwinism doesn't explain where gravity comes from. It doesn't explain where thermodynamics comes from. It doesn't explain where the laws of physics come from. It doesn't explain where matter comes from. — Ben Stein

Darwinism is still very much alive, utterly dominating biology. Despite the fact that no one has ever been able to prove the creation of a single distinct species by Darwinist means, Darwinism dominates the academy and the media. — Ben Stein

I have always been very concerned that Darwinism gave the basic okay to terrible racism and to the idea of murder based upon race. — Ben Stein

A corporation's responsibility is to the shareholders, not its retirees and employees. Companies are doing everything they can to get rid of pension plans and they will succeed. — Ben Stein

If we try to engineer outcomes, if we overturn tradition to make everyone the same, we ruin society. If we upset tradition to allow for an equal shot at the starting gate, everyone wins, except for the charlatans and would be dictators. — Ben Stein

Keep on beginning and failing. Each time you fail, start all over gain, and you will grow stronger until have accomplished a purpose - not the one you began with perhaps, but one you'll be glad to remember. — Ben Stein

Being a Daddy is priority number one. When you are old and facing oblivion in a nursing home or a hospital or on a golf course in winter, you are not going to wish you had spent more time at the office or making a sales call or watching a show. You will wish you had spent more time with your family. — Ben Stein

Academic freedom is being lost by a great many people who dare to challenge Darwinism. That's a terrifying situation. That's contrary to the principles of science. — Ben Stein

Sleep makes people calmer, more alert, less fearful - just plain happier, or so I see around me and in me. I am sure that if this great nation were to concentrate on getting more sleep, we would be a happier, more confident people, and that by itself would be a major achievement. — Ben Stein

Neo-Darwinists ask us to believe in things not seen. We're not supposed to have an established religion in America, but we do, and it's called Darwinism . — Ben Stein

There is no sudden leap into the stratosphere. There is only advancing step by step, slowly and tortuously, up the pyramid towards your goals. — Ben Stein

We are not supposed to be all equal. Let's just forget that. We are supposed to have equal rights under law. If we do that, we have done enough. — Ben Stein

My parents, products of the Great Depression, were successful people, but lived in a state of constant fear that my sister and I, and they, would sink into the kind of economic insecurity that their generation knew so well. — Ben Stein

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. — Ben Stein

If there are finer beings than German short hairs, I don't know what they are. In their eyes is peace. — Ben Stein

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. — Ben Stein

I am so in love with just lying in bed listening to Mozart. — Ben Stein

I'm out and about meeting people all day long. And I'm very friendly; I talk to just about everybody I meet. — Ben Stein

When I seemed to be irritable or sad, my father would quote the learned Dr. Knight, and then say, 'Just go to sleep.' Like all smart aleck kids, I thought the advice was silly. But as I've grown older, I've realized just how smart Knight was. — Ben Stein

Yes, Americans can still get credit for cars and trucks and refrigerators, and those businesses are doing well. But just try to get a home loan now. — Ben Stein

I tell you why I don't think I will ever vote for a Democrat, if I may say so. Because for me, the number one issue is right to life, and I don't think the Democrats are very good on the right-to-life issue. — Ben Stein

We are mortgaging ourselves to foreigners on a scale that would make George Washington cry. Every day - every single day - we borrow a billion dollars from foreigners to buy petroleum from abroad, often from countries that hate us. We are the beggars of the world, financing our lavish lifestyle by selling our family heirlooms and by enslaving our progeny with the need to service the debt. — Ben Stein

The banks are not lending, at least from what I see. They were so wild and reckless back in the good times that they got burned terribly. — Ben Stein

I have talent at playing myself. I don't have a very broad range, but at playing myself I am a wizard. It's more than fun; it's the best job on Earth. — Ben Stein

Hollywood is largely about scammers and con men. It was my main livelihood for about 25 years, and the scams were beautiful and ugly, cheap and expensive, but, wow, were there a lot of scammers. — Ben Stein

Americans are terrified because so many of them have been laid off in recent years and months and they fear that they may be next. Even if they have not been laid off or have not known anyone laid off, they definitely know someone who has lost his home. — Ben Stein

I was a trial lawyer. At the same time, I was a teacher. I taught about the political and social content of film for American University. Then I left and became a teacher at the University of California at Santa Cruz. I taught about the political and social content of film, but I also taught a course in law for undergraduates. — Ben Stein

Greed is a basic part of animal nature. Being against it is like being against breathing or eating. It means nothing. — Ben Stein

People getting rich in a free society in general - with some scammy exceptions, which are rare - makes everyone else richer, too. — Ben Stein

As to a media personality, well that just happened in large measure because people found me amusing, and I did lots and lots of T.V. news interview shows. — Ben Stein

My feeling is that Darwinism is only at best a partial solution, and an extremely dangerous partial solution. I would say, based on the little I know, Darwinism explains microevolution within species quite well. As to its broader consequence and implications, I don't think it explains individual species evolution at all well. — Ben Stein

Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place. Science leads you to killing people. — Ben Stein

It is so great to sleep in safe, glorious, beautiful America. I just cannot get over it. — Ben Stein

I hope it won't come as a surprise to anyone that a big part of male homosexual behavior is interest in young boys. — Ben Stein

When Hollywood sees a good story about a man who sells confidence, they see themselves and they like it. — Ben Stein

It's a great stretch for me to do my game show. It's very hard. It's not me at all. The only part that's me is sort of when I'm sitting in the booth looking tormented. That's the only part that's the real me. — Ben Stein

If there is no God, then man sometimes thinks he is god, and sometimes tries to live like a god. — Ben Stein

It isn't the rich people's fault that poor people are poor. Poor people who get an education and work hard in this country will stop being poor. That should be the goal for all poor people everywhere. — Ben Stein

I think, there are many people who are much smarter than I am, and many, many, many who are much harder-working than I am, but in terms of the range of my activities, they're unique. — Ben Stein

I think it's criminal how little people in the military are paid. These are people out risking their lives, taken away from their families for long periods of time. I think they should be paid dramatically more than they're paid. — Ben Stein

I am back in LA now. And I keep thinking back to my time in New York after the bombings.... I was crying so much I could not see, and the other diners joined in, and I thought, What do you do with such atheistic evil? — Ben Stein

I'm an economist by training. I don't really work as an economist. I only worked briefly as an economist. — Ben Stein

You can do what you think you can do and you cannot do what you think you cannot. — Ben Stein

I did some reading to prep for Expelled. I read one book cover to cover, From Darwin to Hitler , and that was a very interesting book - one of these rare books I wish had been even longer. It's about how Darwin 's theory - supposedly concocted by this mild-mannered saintly man, with a flowing white beard like Santa Claus - led to the murder of millions of innocent people. — Ben Stein

Life lived to help others is the only life that matters. — Ben Stein

My 'thing' is that I just lie in my immense bed and look out the window at the skyline over Virginia and the sky and the airplanes coming into Reagan. I really love doing that. — Ben Stein

The ordinary American - as far as I can tell - knows so much less than he did fifty years ago and has such poor work habits compared with fifty years ago that the average multiplicand of knowledge/capabilities is a much smaller number than it was in 1961. — Ben Stein

Usually I am not a conspiracy theorist. I don't believe in the Bilderbergers as a conspiracy or the Trilateralists. But I am certain that the Communists killed JFK. There is a super great book called 'Legend' by Edward Jay Epstein that makes it all perfectly clear. — Ben Stein

I don't think Wall Street people in general are smart. I think that's one of the biggest myths in American lore. They're tough, aggressive, greedy, quick thinking but I don't think they're particularly smart at all. — Ben Stein

If you want to fight the evil you see in finance and industry, get to work reading the corporate filings, see if there has been fraud, and where you find it, report it to the SEC or write about it or blog about it. — Ben Stein

Men and women succeed because they find a field of endeavor that matches their interests and abilities. — Ben Stein

It means zero to be against greed. — Ben Stein

People ask how I can be a conservative and still want higher taxes. It makes my head spin, and I guess it shows how old I am. But I thought that conservatives were supposed to like balanced budgets. I thought it was the conservative position to not leave heavy indebtedness to our grandchildren. — Ben Stein

So, who in the media is without sin among us? I am in the media and I am a major league sinner. I don't know anyone except my wife who isn't a big time sinner. — Ben Stein

I'm not a Mensa member. I have no idea where that rumor came from. I never have been, and I doubt if I ever will be. — Ben Stein

Wow, bad news. Mr. Obama now hates Israel because the Israelis want to build 1,600 apartments in their own capital city, Jerusalem. Russia hates Israel, too. So do the Europeans. So does Ban Ki-moon, a Korean who is secretary-general of the UN. — Ben Stein

When we just saw that man, I think it was Mr. Myers, talking about how great scientists were, I was thinking to myself the last time any of my relatives saw scientists telling them what to do they were telling them to go to the showers to get gassed. That was horrifying beyond words, and that's where science - in my opinion, this is just an opinion - that's where science leads you. — Ben Stein

I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. — Ben Stein

I am scared of getting old. I am scared of being ill. — Ben Stein

I don't really consider myself to be a personal finance expert compared with some others. There are quite a few that know a lot more than I do. — Ben Stein

I have to tell you I never in my life anticipated getting this old, this fast. It seems as if I were 25 just a few days ago. — Ben Stein

For me, I've always believed that there was a God. I've always believed that God created the heavens and earth - so, for me it's not a huge leap from there to intelligent design. — Ben Stein

I mean it used to be, there was a time … when lynchings of African Americans were not that incredibly rare. Now the lynchings are the police and it's just an outrage. — Ben Stein

I am about to vote. I am about to do something that human beings are rarely allowed to do. I am doing something that did not exist until America. — Ben Stein

My pals, such as they are, in Hollywood, ask me why I love to travel to D.C. so much, why it's a vacation destination for me. I say, 'Because I sometimes have perfect days there.' — Ben Stein

Could Congress really do its work if it held its sessions by teleconferencing? Could the Supreme Court? Nothing can replace the spark of intelligence that travels from person to person at meetings. — Ben Stein

I feel as if I'm in on a pass and am damn lucky to have whatever I have. It could all be taken away in a second. — Ben Stein

When are American Jews going to realize that the Republican Party is far better for Israel than the Democrats? — Ben Stein

And now, any of those who refuse, or are unable, to prove they are citizens will receive free insurance paid for by those who are forced to buy insurance because they are citizens. — Ben Stein

Life Lessons by Ben Stein

1. Ben Stein's life teaches us to never give up, no matter how difficult the situation. He has overcome many obstacles in his life, from being a poor student to becoming a successful lawyer, economist, and actor.
2. Ben Stein also teaches us to take risks and to be brave. He has ventured into many different industries and has taken risks that have paid off in the long run.
3. Finally, Ben Stein's life teaches us to be humble and to never forget where we come from. He has remained humble and grateful for his success, despite all of his accomplishments.