WIST Quotations

Rogers, Will -- Column (1930-06-30), “Daily Telegram: Mr. Rogers Virtually Agrees with Barnum’s Famous View” [No. 1226]

Dave — Fri, 09 May 2025 17:52:18 +0000

We are a good natured bunch of saps in this country. […] When a bank fails, we let the guy go start another one.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1930-06-30), “Daily Telegram: Mr. Rogers Virtually Agrees with Barnum’s Famous View” [No. 1226]
(Source)

Nash, Ogden -- “Bankers Are Just Like Anybody Else, Except Richer,” New Yorker (7 Dec 1935)

Dave — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 15:55:26 +0000

Most bankers dwell in marble halls,

Which they get to dwell in because they encourage deposits and discourage withdrawals,

And particularly because they all observe one rule which woe betides the banker who fails to heed it,

Which is you must never lend any money to anybody unless they don’t need it.

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) American poet
“Bankers Are Just Like Anybody Else, Except Richer,” New Yorker (7 Dec 1935)
(Source)

Keynes, John Maynard -- “Overseas Financial Policy in Stage III” (15 May 1945)

Dave — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 01:20:14 +0000

The old saying holds. Owe your banker £1000 and you are at his mercy; owe him £1 million and the position is reversed.

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) English economist
“Overseas Financial Policy in Stage III” (15 May 1945)

Unpublished memo distributed to the British Cabinet. Variant: "If you owe your bank a hundred pounds, you have a problem. But if you owe a million, it has."