George Soros

“My main concern is with the world order”

“I commissioned two political experts to advise me about what I could do to oppose the re-election of President Bush.”

“Unrestrained competition can drive people into actions that they would otherwise regret.”

“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.”

“Misconceptions play a prominent role in my view of the world.”

“Now that I have called you on your false accusation, you are using additional smear tactics.”

“President Bush is endangering our safety, hurting our vital interests, and undermining American values.”

“We must recognize that as the dominant power in the world we have a special responsibility. In addition to protecting our national interests, we must take the leadership in protecting the common interests of humanity.”

“A lot of the evil in the world is actually not intentional. A lot of people in the financial system did a lot of damage without intending to.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Law has become a business. Health care has become a business. Unfortunately, politics has also become a business. That really undermines society.”

“An open society is a society which allows its members the greatest possible degree of freedom in pursuing their interests compatible with the interests of others.”

“The worse a situation becomes the less it takes to turn it around, the bigger the upside.”

“Stock market bubbles don't grow out of thin air. They have a solid basis in reality, but reality as distorted by a misconception.”

“The anti-resource curse initiative has stronger legs than most and that has made me very enthusiastic.”

“Increasingly, the Chinese will own a lot more of the world because they will be converting their dollar reserves and U.S. government bonds into real assets.”

“As I like to put it, we have hit pay dirt. The effort to cure the resource curse is a good example of what private foundations working with NGOs can accomplish.”

“A full and fair discussion is essential to democracy.”