When "Wall Street's" Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) calmly said, "Greed is, for lack of a better word, good," a quotable star was born!
Here are some of Gekko's choice lines from Oliver Stone's 1987 classic movie about (what else?) money! Written by Stanley Weiser & Oliver Stone.
Watch out for more quotes from Gekko when Douglas reprises his role in "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," opening Sept. 24.
Gordon Gekko: The Money Quotes
"I look at a hundred deals a day. I choose one."
"Save the cheap salesman talk, will ya? It's obvious."
"I don't like losses. Nothing ruins my day more than losses."
"The most valuable commodity I know of is information."
"The public's out there throwing darts at a board, sport. I don't throw darts at a board. Read Sun Tzu, The Art of War. Every battle is won before it is ever fought."
"Ever wonder why fund managers can't beat the S&P 500? 'Cause they're sheep, and sheep get slaughtered."
"If you need a friend, get a dog."
"You stop sending me information, and you start getting me some."
"You see that building? I bought that building ten years ago. My first real estate deal. Sold it two years later, made an $800,000 profit. It was better than sex. At the time I thought that was all the money in the world. Now it's a day's pay."
Location, Location, Location
"If you're not inside, you're outside!"
"I'm gonna make you rich, Bud Fox."
"Money never sleeps, pal."
"America has become a second-rate power. It's trade deficit and its fiscal deficit are at nightmare proportions."
"The point is, ladies and gentlemen, 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 U.S.A."
"It's not always the most popular person who gets the job done."
"What's worth doing is worth doing for money."
"It's not a question of enough, pal. It's a zero-sum game. Somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn't lost or made, it's simply transferred from one perception to another, like magic."
"We make the rules, pal. The news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the price of a paper clip. We pick that rabbit out of a hat while everybody sits around wondering how the hell we did it. Now you're not naive enough to think that we're living in a democracy, are you, Buddy? It's the free market, and you're part of it."
