Max Weber

The greatest gift one can give is the gift of knowledge.

The modern individual is increasingly defined by their work and their economic role.

The politician must be able to inspire hope and confidence in the future.

The world is a tapestry of interconnected events and meanings.

Man does not live by bread alone, but in every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

The 'spirit of capitalism,' in the sense in which we are using the term, is the attitude which seeks profit rationally and systematically.

The most important means of power for the modern state is the bureaucracy.

The more the 'rational' character of the state and of law has developed, the more the 'rational' character of the economy has developed.

The 'calling' of the modern entrepreneur is to make money and to make more money.

The Puritan wanted to be a man of calling, and he was. We are forced to be.

The 'iron cage' of bureaucracy and rationalization.

The ultimate value of life is not to be found in the realm of the 'given' but in the realm of the 'created.'

The 'disenchantment of the world' means that there are no longer any mysterious, incalculable forces that come into play, but rather that one can, in principle, master all things by calculation.

The charisma of the prophet or the warlord is the most revolutionary force in history.

The 'spirit of capitalism' is not simply the pursuit of gain, but the pursuit of gain in a rational, systematic way.

The modern state is an institutional association of domination which has successfully claimed the monopoly of legitimate physical violence within a definite territory.

The 'calling' is a religious concept, but it has been secularized and now applies to all forms of work.

The 'rational' organization of the modern capitalist enterprise is based on the separation of the household from the business.

The 'Protestant ethic' is the spirit of hard work, frugality, and self-denial.

The 'spirit of capitalism' is not a natural phenomenon, but a historical product.