Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Robert Edward Rubin, aka Eddy Rubin

American Economist and Banking Executive, Co-Senior Partner at Goldman Sachs, Director of the White House National Economic Council, U.S. Treasury Secretary

"In business, the chief focus is on profitability. Government, by contrast, has no simple bottom line but rather a vast array of interests and priorities, many of which exist in a state of tension or conflict. For that reason, decision making in government is vastly more complex."

"Financial markets are driven by human nature and have a propensity to go to excess. This means that periodic financial crises of one sort or another are virtually inevitable."

"To keep a realistic sense of yourself and to make well-informed decisions, you have to go out of your way to make people feel comfortable disagreeing with you."

"The only place people find fulfillment is within themselves. And too often, that is the last place they look."

"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem."

"Relying on politics for your sense of who you are greatly impedes your ability to remain true to yourself, your views, and your values."

"I agree with what the Chairman Greenspan said whatever it is that he did say."

"Some people are more certain of everything than I am of anything. "