Our society has a very large industry in the business of transferring money from one future to another: the insurance industry

--- David M. Friedman, Law’s Order, Princeton University Press (2000), p. 99, Chapter 9: As Much as Your Life is Worth, discussing optimal deterrence vs optimal insurance

Quote in a little context:

Our society has a very large industry in the business of transferring money from one future to another: the insurance industry. When you buy fire insurance you are giving up money in a future in which your house does not burn down in order to collect money in a future in which it does, transferring wealth from one future to another.

This is a most wonderful book: a marvelous introduction to the field of law & economics.