Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Film ·107 of 348
"Greed is good."
They never said that.
What people say
"Greed is good."
What was actually said
"The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good." Gordon Gekko — Wall Street (1987)
Why it stuck
The movie hangs an entire speech on the caveat "for lack of a better word." The three-word version became the rallying cry it warned against.
Oliver Stone has said for decades he meant the speech as indictment, not endorsement. The truncation erased the irony.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.