"... history, statistics, and 'theory'... together make up what we shall call Economic Analysis. Of these fundamental fields, economic history is by far the most important... if... I were told that I could study only one of the three..., it would be economic history that I should choose." (Joseph A. Schumpeter, Chapter 2, History of Economic Analysis)
"Once one starts to think about [economic growth], it is hard to think about anything else. This is what we need a theory of economic development for." (Robert E. Lucas, Jr., 1988 JME)
"Advances in the natural sciences are discoveries of ways to compress data concerning the natural world...with minimal loss of information... Economics aims to accomplish the same sort of thing in relation to data on the economy, but is less successful." (Christopher A. Sims, 1996 JEP)
"... all models are approximations. Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful." "... the scientist must be alert to what is importantly wrong. It is inappropriate to be concerned about mice when there are tigers abroad." (Gregory Box, various writings, see Wiki)
"In order to [facilitate large-scale farming], the ability to freely trade, rent, and inherit land should be permitted and the most important rural productive resource, the land, should be made freely available on the market and given legal protection." (Zhao Ziyang, Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang, see Wiki)