"The bargain that yields mutual satisfaction is the only one that is apt to be repeated"
About this Quote
Capitalism, in B. C. Forbes's hands, isn’t romance or war; it’s habit. “The bargain that yields mutual satisfaction is the only one that is apt to be repeated” reads like a tidy maxim, but it’s really a theory of how power sustains itself in markets: not through one-off victories, but through transactions that leave both sides willing to come back tomorrow.
Forbes, a journalist who built an empire by chronicling business, is speaking from the early 20th century’s churn of mass production, expanding consumer culture, and increasingly public corporate reputations. The line quietly rebukes the chest-thumping version of dealmaking where one party “wins” and the other limps away. A bargain that humiliates, tricks, or squeezes isn’t just ethically suspect; it’s strategically dumb. Repeat business is the real profit engine, and repeat business requires a minimum threshold of trust.
The subtext is a corrective to short-term thinking. “Mutual satisfaction” doesn’t mean perfect equality; it means each side feels the exchange was fair enough to continue the relationship. That “apt to be repeated” is where the realism lives: Forbes isn’t moralizing about kindness, he’s pointing to incentive and memory. People keep score. So do institutions.
It’s also an early nod to what we now call retention, loyalty, and brand: the notion that your next sale depends on the emotional aftertaste of the last one. In an era fascinated with titans and takedowns, Forbes argues for something less cinematic and more durable: the deal that doesn’t burn the bridge you’ll need again.
Forbes, a journalist who built an empire by chronicling business, is speaking from the early 20th century’s churn of mass production, expanding consumer culture, and increasingly public corporate reputations. The line quietly rebukes the chest-thumping version of dealmaking where one party “wins” and the other limps away. A bargain that humiliates, tricks, or squeezes isn’t just ethically suspect; it’s strategically dumb. Repeat business is the real profit engine, and repeat business requires a minimum threshold of trust.
The subtext is a corrective to short-term thinking. “Mutual satisfaction” doesn’t mean perfect equality; it means each side feels the exchange was fair enough to continue the relationship. That “apt to be repeated” is where the realism lives: Forbes isn’t moralizing about kindness, he’s pointing to incentive and memory. People keep score. So do institutions.
It’s also an early nod to what we now call retention, loyalty, and brand: the notion that your next sale depends on the emotional aftertaste of the last one. In an era fascinated with titans and takedowns, Forbes argues for something less cinematic and more durable: the deal that doesn’t burn the bridge you’ll need again.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sales |
|---|
More Quotes by C. Forbes
Add to List
