Wall Street Quotes
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Source: Wall Street
Speaker: Gordon Gekko
"Greed is good."
The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much.
Context
This is a misquote attributed to Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, in the movie Wall Street, directed by Oliver Stone (1987).
This scene pops up about midway through the movie Wall Street, when corporate raider Gordon Gekko defends himself against charges that he's a little too greedy. Gordon explains that greed actually isn't such a bad thing. In fact, a longing (or greed, if you will) for progress is what has actually made America great. We can practically hear the applause from here.
Trouble is that Gordon never really says, "Greed is good." In fact, he actually softens it by calling this spirit of advancement greed only "for the lack of a better word." It's a clever way to spin the fact that others have been calling him a greedy jerk. Sure, greed might be one of the seven deadly sins, but isn't it kind of awesome in its own way? Gordon Gekko for president—we can see the yard signs now!
Where you've heard it
You're probably familiar with this basic quote and, no doubt, you've heard it when people are talking about economics, capitalism, and all that good stuff. Is greed really a good thing? Or should we be giving a whole lot more than we take?
Additional Notable References:
- On her TV show, Sarah Silverman sees a kid with talent at a pageant reciting Gordon Gekko's "Greed is good" speech. Kids these days.
- Donald Trump came pretty close to saying greed was good when he told folks in 2016, "My whole life I've been greedy, greedy, greedy. I've grabbed all the money I could get. I'm so greedy. But now I want to be greedy for the United States."
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Okay, this one depends a lot on how it's said. Do you really think greed is good? Or are you just being a little bit ironic? One of those deliveries ups your pretentious factor a whole lot.