“If you see a Swiss banker jumping out of a window, follow him” (Voltaire?)
Entry in progress—B.P.
Wikipedia: Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, and philosopher known for his wit, philosophical sport and defence of civil liberties, including both freedom of religion and free trade.
Voltaire was a prolific writer and produced works in almost every literary form, authoring plays, poetry, novels, essays, historical and scientific works, more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets.
He was an outspoken supporter of social reform, despite strict censorship laws and harsh penalties for those who broke them. A satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize Catholic Church dogma and the French institutions of his day.
Voltaire was one of several Enlightenment figures (along with Montesquieu, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau) whose works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions.
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. If you see a Swiss banker jumping out of a window, follow him, there is sure to be a profit in it.
17 March 1974, Lancaster (OH) Eagle Gazette, “Dear Abby” by Abigail Van Buren, pg. 19, col. 3:
CONFIDENTIAL TO O. B. IN ROME: I’m no investment counselor, but the advice from Herbert R. Mayes, publisher of The Overseas American, a new and brilliant fortnightly newsletter for United States citizens abroad, is: “The old story about Swiss banks is still valid: if you see a Swiss banker jumping from an office building, follow him out. There’s 15 percent to be made on the way down.”
Google Books
Switzerland, the awful truth
By Jean Ziégler
New York, NY: Harper & Row
1979
Pg. 56:
Voltaire used to say: “If you see a Swiss banker jumping out of a window, jump after him. There’s bound to be money in it!”
Google Books
The Money Lenders:
Bankers and a world in turmoil
By Anthony Sampson
New York, NY: Viking Press
1981
Pg. 207:
Ever since the Huguenots from France took refuge in Geneva in 1685 the country had been regarded as almost synonymous with banking, the subject of timeless jokes: (“If you see a Swiss banker jumping out of a window, jump after him,” said Voltaire: “there’s bound to be money in it.”)
Google Books
Genes and Tumor Genes
By Ernst L. Winnacker and Hans-H. Schoene
Published by Raven Press
1982
Pg. ?:
Voltaire has his hero, Candide, remark, that if you see a Swiss banker jump from a window, jump after him; you are going to be rich.
Google Books
Information Economics
By Urs W. Birchler and Monika Bütler
Published by Taylor & Francis
2007
Pg. 203:
“When you see a Swiss banker jump out of the window, follow! There is bound to be money,” the French philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778) said. It may take a bit of courage to follow Voltaire’s advice. But what if one, two, or three other people are seen jumping after the banker? At some point, not jumping would require more courage than jumping.