Quote

Repeatedly asking for government help undermines the foundations of society by destroying initiative and responsibility. It is also a fatal blow to efficiency and corrupts the political process.

Charles Koch

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Charles Koch
Age: 89
Born: 1935
Born: November 1
Businessman
Businessperson
Wichita
Kansas
Charles G. Koch
Charles de Ganahl Koch
Process
Initiative
Helping
Destroying
Blow
Undermines
Political
Foundation
Corrupts
Also
Asking
Repeatedly
Government
Responsibility
Foundations
Help
Fatal
Society
Efficiency

More quotes by Charles Koch

Image
I get a lot of death threats. But the way I look at it, I feel I have a moral obligation to do the best I can to make the country better for everybody, and that threatens certain people because they're going to have much less power. I want the power to go back to people making decisions over their own lives rather than some experts making it.
Charles Koch
Image
That's the first rule for anybody who controls - do no harm.
Charles Koch
Image
My parents worked really hard at communicating other values they felt were important, such as integrity, courage, humility, treating others with dignity and respect, and having a thirst for knowledge.
Charles Koch
Image
I try to hire people who will challenge and have the humility to be challenged - people who have basically good values.
Charles Koch
Image
You can't start taking away benefits if people don't have any opportunities.
Charles Koch
Image
Success is one of the worst enemies of success, because success tends to breed complacency and lack of humility.
Charles Koch
Image
I've had the philosophy that John Adams expressed, in the kind of system that we're trying to create in this country: that this is a system for moral people. It will work for no other.
Charles Koch
Image
We try to evaluate how much value an employee is creating here and reward them accordingly.
Charles Koch
Image
We find that when we make an acquisition, or we have a hiring experience, that's one of the hardest things to change. If you've been working for a company where you didn't dare challenge your boss, or what's politically correct in the company, then it affects your career.
Charles Koch
Image
My father would always say learn everything you can and whenever you can, because you never know when it'll come in handy.
Charles Koch
Image
You've got to learn to work with others. One of my main values is, you learn this system of mutual benefit. That is, if you shirk and you try to make the other guy do more, he's going to do that to you.
Charles Koch
Image
In America, the first thing we have to get rid of is entitlements for the wealthy, and at the same time, open up the economy to the disadvantaged.
Charles Koch
Image
I've always believed in the saying that there is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit.
Charles Koch
Image
Everything I give, pretty much, is public. Not every donor wants to - or is willing to get the kind of abuse and attacks that we do, or death threats, so they're not willing to have their names out. I think the other side is pushing for that because they want to intimidate people so they won't oppose it.
Charles Koch
Image
Both my parents were a tremendous influence on me. My father's influence came from - he decided well, probably before we were born that as he put it, 'I'm not going to have any kids who are country club bums.'
Charles Koch
Image
If we are going to have a Fed, it should not fall into the tyranny of experts with the a fatal conceit that a few wise people can determine interest rates. Interest rates should be driven by the market, and people's time preference, and we see these boom-bust cycles.
Charles Koch
Image
I've been blessed by learning certain principles and values that transformed my life and enabled me to accomplish more than I really had the ability to do or ever dream possible. And so I decided that I wanted to give as many other people as possible the opportunity to learn these ideas and transform their lives as I had.
Charles Koch
Image
If somebody is doing more and more to make other people's lives better, have them make all they can, if that's what drives them, because that's what we want.
Charles Koch
Image
Best part of my job is fulfillment. When I see that, that we're creating value, that we're helping improve people's lives, and we benefit from it, so it's a system of mutual benefit. Our philosophy's working. That's what turns me on. That's what keeps me going.
Charles Koch
Image
There are now businesses and entire industries that exist solely as a result of federal patronage. Profiting from government instead of earning profits in the economy, such businesses can continue to succeed even if they are squandering resources and making products that people wouldn't ordinarily buy.
Charles Koch