E. F. Schumacher
German-born British economist (1911 to 1977); author of Small Is Beautiful (1973).
E. F. Schumacher did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
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Man is small, and so small is beautiful
Man is small, and, therefore, small is beautiful.
archive.orgSaid c. 1973This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These one: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 12 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
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Man is small, and so small is beautiful
Man is small, and, therefore, small is beautiful.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973) Said c. 1973
The economics of giantism and automation cannot solve today's real problems
The economics of giantism and automation is a left-over of nineteenth-century conditions and nineteenth-century thinking and it is totally incapable of solving any of the real problems of today.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973) Said c. 1973
Education that does not clarify our central convictions is mere training
Education which fails to clarify our central convictions is mere training or indulgence.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973) Said c. 1973
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A person's substance cannot be measured by GNP
The substance of man cannot be measured by Gross National Product.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973) Said c. 1973
Infinite growth of material consumption in a finite world is impossible
it does not require more than a simple act of insight to realise that infinite growth of material consumption in a finite world is an impossibility.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973) Said c. 1973
Materialism does not fit a limited world because it has no limiting principle
An attitude to life which seeks fulfilment in the single-minded pursuit of wealth — in short, materialism — does not fit into this world, because it contains within itself no limiting principle, while the environment in which it is placed is strictly limited.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973) Said c. 1973
Nature knows where and when to stop
Nature always, so to speak, knows where and when to stop.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973) Said c. 1973
Technology tends to develop by its own laws, unlike those of human or living nature
Strange to say, technology, although of course the product of man, tends to develop by its own laws and principles, and these are very different from those of human nature or of living nature in general.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973) Said c. 1973
More education helps only if it produces more wisdom
More education can help us only if it produces more wisdom.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973) Said c. 1973
The keynote of Buddhist economics is simplicity and non-violence
The keynote of Buddhist economics, therefore, is simplicity and non-violence.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973) Said c. 1973
Civilisation lies in purifying character, not multiplying wants
Buddhist economics must be very different from the economics of modern materialism, since the Buddhist sees the essence of civilisation not in a multiplication of wants but in the purification of human character.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973) Said c. 1973
We must study the economics of permanence
We must study the economics of permanence.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973) Said c. 1973
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