Quotes from Felix Rohatyn

A democracy cannot flourish half rich and half poor, any more than it can flourish half free and half slave.

The whole market mechanism and its evolution is something that, I'm kind of of the Buffett School. You know, if I see a derivative, I run the other way.

I am a capitalist and I believe in making a profit.

In the 1970s, New York City avoided bankruptcy because wise political leaders like Gov. Hugh L. Carey believed both in strong labor unions and robust banks and companies.

The early years of my life were very, very traumatic. It was scary, because any child knew that death was sort of lurking around Europe as far as Jews were concerned.

Throughout U.S. history, competent public investments have been an essential complement to private investments - from the Louisiana Purchase, to land-grant colleges, to the Interstate Highway System, to the Internet.

Saving New York City from bankruptcy is like making love to a gorilla. You don't stop when you're tired; you stop when he's tired.

At its core, banking is not simply about profit, but about personal relationships.

Investment banking is not a business; it is a personal service where bankers work hand in hand with their clients. And it is a service that must not simply be about making bigger and bigger deals that reap rewards for only a small group of executives.

Success in business, as in life, is often largely just a matter of luck.

Fairness does not require the redistribution of wealth; it requires the creation of wealth, geared to an economy that can provide employment for everyone able and willing to work.

Financial hydrogen bombs built on personal computers by 26-year-olds with MBAs.

What is desperately needed... is the skepticism and the sense of history that a liberal arts education provides.