I believe in the power of ideas, I believe in the power of books, but you have to give them time.
Interpretation
Ideas and books have transformative power, but they require patience and dedication to be fully appreciated.
In this quote, Thomas Piketty emphasizes the significance of ideas and literature in shaping our understanding and perspective of the world. He advocates for allowing time for these concepts to unfold and reveal their true value, suggesting that immediate understanding is not always possible, and that the impact of knowledge grows with time and reflection.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of education, this quote can be used to emphasize the role of literature and patience in learning.
Contrary to a tenacious myth, France is not owned by California pension funds or the Bank of China, any more than the United States belongs to Japanese and German investors. The fear of getting into such a predicament is so strong today that fantasy often outstrips reality. The reality is that inequality with respect to capital is a far greater domestic issue than it is an international one.
The main force pushing toward reduction in inequality has always been the diffusion of knowledge and the diffusion of education.
Over a long period of time, the main force in favor of greater equality has been the diffusion of knowledge and skills.
There is one great advantage to being an academic economist in France: here, economists are not highly respected in the academic and intellectual world or by political and financial elites. Hence they must set aside their contempt for other disciplines and their absurd claim to greater scientific legitimacy, despite the fact that they know almost nothing about anything.
When the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of growth of output and income, as it did in the nineteenth century and seems quite likely to do again in the twenty-first, capitalism automatically generates arbitrary and unsustainable inequalities that radically undermine the meritocratic values on which democratic societies are based.
Having a decent share of the national wealth for the middle class is not bad for growth. It is actually useful both for equity and efficiency reasons.
Each book, intuitively sensed and, in the case of fiction, intuitively worked out, stands on what has gone before, and grows out of it.
Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible
One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.
The education of women is the best way to save the environment.
There is no profession which cannot be practiced by a woman.
All new learning looks at first like chaos.
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