110+ George Soros Quotes On Investing, Trading And Money

George Soros is a Hungarian-American investor and philanthropist. He is one of the world's most successful investors and is known for his philanthropy and political activism. He is the founder of Soros Fund Management and the Open Society Foundations, and has donated billions of dollars to various causes. Following is our collection on famous quotes by George Soros on investing, trading, money.

Top 10 George Soros Quotes

1. Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition, there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes.
2. Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes.
3. I'm not better than the next trader, just quicker at admitting my mistakes and moving on to the next opportunity.
4. Now that I have called you on your false accusation, you are using additional smear tactics.
5. There is no point in being confident and having a small position.
6. It's not whether you're right or wrong that's important, but how much money you make when you're right and how much you lose when you're wrong
7. To others, being wrong is a source of shame; to me, recognizing my mistakes is a source of pride.
8. Esperanto was a very useful language, because wherever you went, you found someone to speak with.
9. Stock market bubbles don't grow out of thin air. They have a solid basis in reality, but reality as distorted by a misconception.
10. The sovereignty of states must be subordinated to international law and international institutions.

George Soros Short Quotes

• To be successful, you need leisure. You need time hanging heavily on your hands.
• Short term volatility is greatest at turning points and diminishes as a trend becomes established
• Discount the obvious, bet on the unexpected
• Studying economics is not a good preparation for dealing with it.
• The global crisis is caused by pathologies inherent in the global financial system itself.
• Markets are imperfect. So you do need regulation, knowing that the regulators are also human.
• Well, you know, I was a human being before I became a businessman.
• American supremacy is the greatest threat to the world today.
• The laissez-faire argument relies on the same tacit appeal to perfection as does communism.
• Political debate is more interested in manipulating the truth, than finding the truth.

George Soros Quotes About Investing

The main enemy of the open society, I believe, is no longer the communist but the capitalist threat. — George Soros

If investing is entertaining, if you're having fun, you're probably not making any money. Good investing is boring. — George Soros

We are the most powerful nation on earth. No external power, no terrorist organization can defeat us. But we can defeat ourselves by getting caught in a quagmire. — George Soros

Making an investment decision is like formulating a scientific hypothesis and submitting it to a practical test. — George Soros

Most of the poverty and misery in the world is due to bad government, lack of democracy, weak states, internal strife, and so on. — George Soros

I am for maximum supervision and minimum regulation. — George Soros

If I had to sum up my practical skills, I would use one word: survival. And operating a hedge fund utilized my training in survival to the fullest. — George Soros

It is much easier to put existing resources to better use, than to develop resources where they do not exist. — George Soros

Every bubble consists of a trend that can be observed in the real world and a misconception relating to that trend. The two elements interact with each other in a reflexive manner. — George Soros

A global economy is characterized not only by the free movement of goods and services but, more important, by the free movement of ideas and of capital. — George Soros

George Soros Quotes About Money

I'm only rich because I know when I'm wrong. — George Soros

Economic history is a never-ending series of episodes based on falsehoods and lies, not truths. It represents the path to big money. The object is to recognize the trend whose premise is false, ride that trend and step off before it is discredited. — George Soros

I'm only rich because I know when I'm wrong...I basically have survived by recognizing my mistakes. — George Soros

Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected. — George Soros

Hedge funds are a very efficient way of managing money. But there are clearly some risks. Hedge funds use credit and credit is a source of instability. Transactions involving credit should be regulated. — George Soros

When money is free, the rational lender will keep on lending until there is no one else to lend to. — George Soros

Making an investment decision is like formulating a scientific hypothesis and submitting it to a practical test. The main difference is that the hypothesis that underlies an investment decision is intended to make money and not to establish a universally valid generalization. — George Soros

When I had made more money than I needed for myself and my family, I set up a foundation to promote the values and principles of a free and open society. — George Soros

By creating the European Central Bank, the member states exposed their own government bonds to the risk of default. Developed countries that issue bonds in their own currency never default, because they can always print money. Their currency may depreciate, but the risk of default is absent. — George Soros

I don't use my money to gain political influence for my private interests, which is what many rich people do, and what, in a sense, market fundamentalism does, because it is in the interests of people who have a lot of money to have as little taxes as possible. — George Soros

George Soros Quotes About Marijuana

Who most benefits from keeping marijuana illegal? The greatest beneficiaries are the major criminal organizations in Mexico and elsewhere that earn billions of dollars annually from this illicit trade - and who would rapidly lose their competitive advantage if marijuana were a legal commodity. — George Soros

Regulating and taxing marijuana would simultaneously save taxpayers billions of dollars in enforcement and incarceration costs, while providing many billions of dollars in revenue annually. — George Soros

The criminalization of marijuana did not prevent marijuana from becoming the most widely used illegal substance in the United States and many other countries. But it did result in extensive costs and negative consequences. — George Soros

Just as the process of repealing national alcohol prohibition began with individual states repealing their own prohibition laws, so individual states must now take the initiative with respect to repealing marijuana prohibition laws. — George Soros

Proposition 19 already is a winner no matter what happens on election day. The mere fact of its being on the ballot has elevated and legitimized public discourse about marijuana and marijuana policy in ways I could not have imagined a year ago. — George Soros

George Soros Quotes About Wrong

Start by assuming the market is always wrong, so if you copy everybody else on Wall Street, you're doomed to do poorly. — George Soros

I admire Chancellor Merkel for her leadership qualities, but she is leading Europe in the wrong direction. — George Soros

Market prices are always wrong in the sense that they present a biased view of the future. — George Soros

Market prices are always wrong. — George Soros

The people currently in charge have forgotten the first principle of an open society, namely that we may be wrong and that there has to be free discussion. That it's possible to be opposed to the policies without being unpatriotic. — George Soros

My conceptual framework, which basically emphasizes the importance of misconceptions, makes me extremely critical of my own decisions. I know that I am bound to be wrong, and therefore am more likely to correct my own mistakes. — George Soros

The prevailing wisdom is that markets are always right. I take the opposite position. I assume that markets are always wrong. — George Soros

China could easily emerge as the great winner if the Chinese leaders handle the situation well. On the other hand, they could also turn out to be the biggest losers if they handle it poorly. If the management turns out be wrong, this could lead to a political crisis in China. — George Soros

I very often used to get backaches due to the fact that I was wrong. Whenever you are wrong you have to fight or [take] flight. When [I] make the decision, the backache goes away. — George Soros

George Soros Quotes About Condition

We can speak of the triumph of capitalism in the world, but we cannot yet speak about the triumph of democracy. There is a serious mismatch between the political and the economic conditions that prevail in the world today. — George Soros

Financial markets ... resent any kind of government interference but they hold a belief deep down that if conditions get really rough the authorities will step in. — George Soros

When interest rates are low we have conditions for asset bubbles to develop, and they are developing at the moment. The ultimate asset bubble is gold. — George Soros

George Soros Famous Quotes And Sayings

There is a resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe. The policies of the Bush administration and the Sharon administration contribute to that. It's not specifically anti-Semitism, but it does manifest itself in anti-Semitism as well. — George Soros

Although I have made a fortune in the financial markets, I now fear that the untrammeled intensification of laissez-faire capitalism and the spread of market values into all areas of life is endangering our open and democratic society. The main enemy of the open society, I believe, is no longer the communist but the capitalist threat. — George Soros

The financial markets generally are unpredictable. So that one has to have different scenarios... The idea that you can actually predict what's going to happen contradicts my way of looking at the market. — George Soros

Everything adds up to a major crisis. Humanity is faced with a global energy crisis ... The core of the crisis lies in the increasing shortage of oil. — George Soros

We [at Soros Fund Management] use options and more exotic derivatives sparingly. We try to catch new trends early and in later stages we try to catch trend reversals. Therefore, we tend to stabilize rather than destabilize the market. We are not doing this as a public service. It is our style of making money. — George Soros

Money values do not simply mirror the state of affairs in the real world; valuation is a positive act that makes an impact on the course of events. Monetary and real phenomena are connected in a reflexive fashion; that is, they influence each other mutually. The reflexive relationship manifests itself most clearly in the use and abuse of credit. — George Soros

The integration of Europe was very much led by a Germany that was always willing to pay a little bit extra to reach a compromise that everybody accepted, because Germany was so eager to get European support for reunification. That was called the "farsighted vision," which created the European Union. — George Soros

These public-private partnerships are very, very dangerous. The most rotten part of the financial system in the US consisted of the government sponsored entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They really kicked off this crisis. The state should set the rules and enforce them - but not become involved as a market player. — George Soros

Fundamental analysis seeks to establish how underlying values are reflected in stock prices, whereas the theory of reflexivity shows how stock prices can influence underlying values — George Soros

As an anonymous participant in financial markets, I never had to weigh the social consequences of my actions ... I felt justified in ignoring them on the grounds that I was playing by the rules. — George Soros

President George W. Bush is endangering the United States and the world's safety while undermining American values. — George Soros

When a long-term trend loses it’s momentum, short-term volatility tends to rise. It is easy to see why that should be so: the trend-following crowd is disoriented. — George Soros

Outperforming the market with low volatility on a consistent basis is an impossibility. I outperformed the market for 30-odd years, but not with low volatility. — George Soros

I don't panic. The same thing applies to me as to everybody else, so I'm given to euphoria and despair. And I would say that I basically have survived by recognizing my mistakes. — George Soros

The reality is that financial markets are self-destabilizing; occasionally they tend toward disequilibrium, not equilibrium. — George Soros

At times of recession, running a budget deficit is highly desirable. Once the economy begins to recover, you have to balance the budget. But it will also need additional revenues. Should the government not receive them, we will all get punished with higher interest rates. — George Soros

The collapse of the global marketplace would be a traumatic event with unimaginable consequences. Yet I find it easier to imagine than the continuation of the present regime. — George Soros

The generally accepted view is that markets are always right -- that is, market prices tend to discount future developments accurately even when it is unclear what those developments are. I start with the opposite view. I believe the market prices are always wrong in the sense that they present a biased view of the future. — George Soros

I am not a Zionist, nor am I am a practicing Jew, but I have a great deal of sympathy for my fellow Jews and a deep concern for the survival of Israel. — George Soros

What works for Germany can't work for the rest of Europe: No country can run a chronic surplus without others running deficits. — George Soros

The only thing that could hurt me is if my success encouraged me to return to my childhood fantasies of omnipotence - but that is not likely to happen as long as I remain engaged in the financial markets, because they constantly remind me of my limitations. — George Soros

I am not well qualified to criticize the theory of rational expectations and the efficient market hypothesis because as a market participant I considered them so unrealistic that I never bothered to study them. — George Soros

Advocating democracy has, by other people, often been taken as a form of imperialism, and not without some justification. So the important thing in a democracy is that it doesn't necessarily have to agree with what America's interests are, and it doesn't necessarily have to be serving American interests. — George Soros

Taking this view, it is possible to see financial markets as a laboratory for testing hypotheses, albeit not strictly scientific ones. The truth is, successful investing is a kind of alchemy. — George Soros

Playing by the rules, one does the best he can, irrespective of the social consequences. Whereas in making the rules, people ought to be concerned with the social consequences and not with their personal interests. — George Soros

I contend that financial markets never reflect the underlying reality accurately; they always distort it in some way or another and the distortions find expression in market prices. Those distortions can, occasionally, find ways to affect the fundamentals that market prices are supposed to reflect. — George Soros

The lower interest rates fueled housing and consumption booms in countries such as Spain and Ireland. At the same time, Germany, struggling with the burdens of reunification, tightened its belt and became more competitive. All this led to a wide divergence in economic performance. Europe became divided into creditor and debtor countries. — George Soros

A full and fair discussion is essential to democracy. — George Soros

I call government that works the best for people open society, which is basically just another more general term for a democracy that is - you call it maybe a liberal democracy. It's not only majority rule but also respect for minorities and minority opinions and the rule of law. So it's really a sort of institutional democracy. — George Soros

Mankind's ability to understand and control the forces of nature greatly exceeds our ability to govern ourselves — George Soros

Markets are designed to allow individuals to look after their private needs and to pursue profit. It's really a great invention, and I wouldn't underestimate the value of that. But they're not designed to take care of social needs. — George Soros

We are trying to make the world a better place, but that is not necessarily what we accomplish. Many of the problems which preoccupy us are basically insoluble. — George Soros

If the bubbles contain a misconception, as they always do, then it can't be maintained forever. — George Soros

The trouble with institutional investors is that their performance is usually measured relative to their peer group and not by an absolute yardstick. This makes them trend followers by definition. — George Soros

There is always a divergence between our perception and what actually exists. — George Soros

If we carry this line of argument to its logical conclusion, the meaning of life consists of the flaws in one's conceptions and what one does about them. Life can be seen as a fertile fallacy. — George Soros

The financial markets play an active role in determining what's going to happen, how the economy is going to function. — George Soros

The generally accepted theory is that financial markets tend towards equilibrium, and...discount the future correctly. I operate using a different theory, according to which financial markets cannot possibly discount the future correctly because the do not merely discount the future; they help to shape it. — George Soros

The dark comes before dawn. The financial markets are under great pressure because of the lack of leadership during the transition period. — George Soros

We must not forget; but we must forgive. Suffering often such compassion from the Jewish community. It was Jewish groups in the US who were in the forefront in opposing the ethnic cleansing of Muslim in Bosnia. — George Soros

Misconceptions play a prominent role in my view of the world. — George Soros

The key problem is the debt restructuring in the euro zone. As long as the debt burden is not reduced, there is no chance of the weaker EU countries regaining competitiveness. — George Soros

I am against market fundamentalism. I think this propaganda that government involvement is always bad has been very successful - but also very harmful to our society. — George Soros

To my mind, there is a solution which has to do with democracy, because democratic governments are subject to the will of the people. So, if the people will it, you can actually create international institutions through the democratic states. — George Soros

I chose America as my home because I value freedom and democracy, civil liberties and an open society. — George Soros

Economics seeks to be a science. Science is supposed to be objective and it is difficult to be scientific when the subject matter, the participant in the economic process, lacks objectivity. — George Soros

I think it is natural that every country has to take care of its interests, but there are some interests that are common to all countries. There are some human interests, or we need also international cooperation. We've sometimes confused it with dictation. — George Soros

Giving government aid to a bank basically transforms it into a utility. The huge salaries in this sector are only a symptom of a more profound misalignment. The profitability of the finance industry has been excessive. [...] That was absurd. — George Soros

We in the United States are very often - since we are a democracy and we have national interests, we've often made the mistake that a democracy has to adopt America's interests, and that is a contradiction because a democracy basically is people deciding what their interests are. — George Soros

An open society calls itself open to improvement. It is based on the recognition that people have divergent views and interests, and that nobody is in possession of the ultimate truth. — George Soros

Germans tend to forget now that the euro was largely a Franco-German creation. No country has benefited more from the euro than Germany, both politically and economically. Therefore what has happened as a result of the introduction of the euro is largely Germany's its responsibility. — George Soros

The eurozone status quo is neither tolerable nor stable. Mainstream economists would call it an inferior equilibrium; I call it a nightmare - one that is inflicting tremendous pain and suffering that could be easily avoided if the misconceptions and taboos that sustain it were dispelled. — George Soros

If we care about universal principles such as freedom, democracy and the rule of law, we cannot leave them to the care of market forces; we must establish some other institutions to safeguard them. — George Soros

The more comprehensive and convincing a debt reduction program is, the less likely it is to fail. And remember, just as Germany is grateful to America for the Marshall Plan, Italy would be grateful to Germany for helping it lower its refinancing costs. — George Soros

Bush's war in Iraq has done untold damage to the United States. It has impaired our military power and undermined the morale of our armed forces. Our troops were trained to project overwhelming power. They were not trained for occupation duties. — George Soros

As a society we can't live without moral considerations. We do have to protect the public good. And markets are not designed to do that, so we need a political process. — George Soros

I think there's a lot of merit in an international economy and global markets, but they're not sufficient because markets don't look after social needs. — George Soros

Of course, speculation will always make a crisis worse. If there is a weak point, it will expose it. — George Soros

Life Lessons by George Soros

1. George Soros taught the importance of taking calculated risks and being willing to go against the grain in order to achieve success.
2. He also demonstrated the power of resilience and the importance of staying focused on long-term goals, even in the face of adversity.
3. Finally, Soros showed that it is possible to build wealth through smart investments and judicious use of resources.