Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.
The genius here lies in the deliberate awkwardness—"for lack of a better word"—which signals that Weiser (and screenwriter Oliver Stone) knew exactly how dangerous and incomplete this argument was even as they made it. The line doesn't actually defend greed so much as expose how capitalist rhetoric operates: by asserting truths so baldly that they sound almost reasonable, even when they're morally hollow. Watch how this plays out in boardrooms and startups today, where aggressive self-interest gets repackaged as "ambition" or "disruption," and suddenly the same impulse sounds noble. The quote's real power is as a mirror—it forces us to recognize how easily we accept the unvarnished version when it's dressed up in conviction.
“Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.”
Tony Hsieh“It's not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
Seneca“Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.”
Ayn Rand“Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want to impress people they...”
Will Rogers