Nothing but the most exemplary morals can give dignity to a man of small fortune. — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
“A nation is not made welthy by the childish accumulation of shiny metals, but it enriched by the economic prosperity of it's… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
Every man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniences, and amusements… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
Though the profusion of Government must undoubtedly have retarded the natural progress of England to wealth and improvement, it has not been… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
In public, as well as in private expences, great wealth may, perhaps, frequently be admitted as an apology for great folly. — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
That wealth and greatness are often regarded with the respect and admiration which are due only to wisdom and virtue; and that… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
The liberal reward of labour, therefore, as it is the affect of increasing wealth, so it is the cause of increasing population.… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
The disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise, or, at least, to neglect persons… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition is so powerful that it is alone, and without any assistance,… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
Labour was the first price, the original purchase - money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
The liberal reward of labor, therefore, as it is the necessary effect, so it is the natural symptom of increasing national wealth.… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
Wherever there is great property there is great inequality. For one very rich man there must be at least five hundred poor,… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
It is not the actual greatness of national wealth, but its continual increase, which occasions a rise in the wages of labour.… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
It would be too ridiculous to go about seriously to prove that wealth does not consist in money, or in gold and… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
Both ground- rents and the ordinary rent of land are a species of revenue which the owner, in many cases, enjoys without… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
But avarice and ambition in the rich, in the poor the hatred of labour and the love of present ease and enjoyment,… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
“Profit is so very fluctuating that the person who carries on a particular trade cannot always tell you himself what is the… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
Poor David Hume is dying fast, but with more real cheerfulness and good humor and with more real resignation to the necessary course of… — Adam Smith Copy Share
“The effects of the division of labour, in the general business of society, will be more easily understood by considering in what manner it… — Adam Smith Copy Share
“The profligacy of a man of fashion is looked upon with much less contempt and aversion, than that of a man of meaner condition.” — Adam Smith Copy Share
Great ambition, the desire of real superiority, of leading and directing, seems to be altogether peculiar to man, and speech is the great instrument… — Adam Smith Copy Share
People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or… — Adam Smith Copy Share
Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow-citizens. — Adam Smith Copy Share
How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and… — Adam Smith Copy Share
The liberal reward of labour, therefore, as it is the affect of increasing wealth, so it is the cause of increasing population. To complain… — Adam Smith Copy Share
What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience? — Adam Smith Copy Share
It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to… — Adam Smith Copy Share
When we have read a book or poem so often that we can no longer find any amusement in reading it by ourselves, we… — Adam Smith Copy Share
