"The mere thought of investment in human beings is offensive to some among us. Our values and beliefs inhibit us from looking upon human beings as capital goods, except in slavery, and this we abhor... To treat human beings as wealth that can be augmented by investment runs counter to deeply held values. It seems to reduce man once again to a mere material component, something akin to property. And for man to look upon himself as a capital good, even if it did not impair his freedom, may seem to debase him... by investing in themselves, people can enlarge the range of choice available to them. It is one way free men can enhance their welfare."

“Economists have long known that people are an important part of the wealth of nations.”

“The dominant social thought shapes the institutionalized order of society... and the malfunctioning of established institutions in turn alters social thought.”

“Although it is obvious that people acquire useful skills and knowledge, it is not obvious that these skills and knowledge are a form of capital, that this capital is in substantial part a product of deliberate investment, that it has grown in Western societies at a much faster rate than conventional capital, and that this growth may well be the most distinctive feature of the economic system.”

“Nobelprize.org: Autobiography”

“New York Times: Theodore Schultz, 95, Winner Of a Key Prize in Economics”

“efficient but poor hypothesis... that the combination of crops grown, the number of times and depth of cultivation, the time of planting, watering, and harvesting, the combination of hand tools, ditches to carry water to the fields, draft animals and simple equipment -- are all made with a fine regard for marginal costs.”