--- title: "1 Material Prosperity Quotes By Jerry Z. Muller" description: "1 Material Prosperity quotes by Jerry Z. Muller. Plus more from Jerry Z. Muller and more Material Prosperity sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/jerry-z-muller-32795_health_to-us-the-argument-for-material-well-bei_2713861.jpg" --- > [“To us, the argument for material well-being might seem uncontroversial. But in the eighteenth century, material prosperity was frequently condemned as "luxury" by religious and civic moralists. It was not a morally neutral word but a pejorative one, connoting not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/to-us-the-argument-for-material-well-being-might-seem-uncontroversial/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/jerry-z-muller-32795_health_to-us-the-argument-for-material-well-bei_2713861.jpg) ## More by Jerry Z. Muller > [“It was in the eighteenth century that England became what (Adam) Smith called "a nation of shopkeepers"… (p. 58)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/it-was-in-the-eighteenth-century-that-england-became-what-adam-smith/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“ An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations , which Smith published in 1776, is the most important book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/an-inquiry-into-the-nature-and-causes-of-the-wealth-of-nations-which/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“To realize the Enlightenment ideals of formal equality, the rule of law, freedom of commerce, and religious toleration, Voltaire and many of the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/to-realize-the-enlightenment-ideals-of-formal-equality-the-rule-of/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“While the Christian and civic traditions were intrinsically suspicious of commerce, the Roman civil law was not. Rediscovered in the revival of learning in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/while-the-christian-and-civic-traditions-were-intrinsically/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“In the sixteenth century the unity of western European Christendom had been shattered by the rise of Protestantism in its various strands (Lutheran, Calvinist,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/in-the-sixteenth-century-the-unity-of-western-european-christendom/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“Most people in the Great Britain of (Adam) Smith's day lived in what most of us would regard as poverty. Hundreds of thousands were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/most-people-in-the-great-britain-of-adam-smith-s-day-lived-in-what/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“The majority of any society comprised, Smith knew, not landlords or merchants, but "servants, laborers, and workmen of different kinds," who derived their income…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/the-majority-of-any-society-comprised-smith-knew-not-landlords-or/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“Yet despite...accommodations with commerce, Möser regarded the market as primarily a threat--to the artisanal citizens of the town, to the traditional wants of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/yet-despite-accommodations-with-commerce-m-ser-regarded-the-market-as/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“For Burke, almost everything that makes life worthwhile is a result of society, its inherited codes, knowledge, and institutions. These goods are fragile, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/for-burke-almost-everything-that-makes-life-worthwhile-is-a-result-of/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“This emphasis on the difference between intentions and ultimate results constituted an implicit critique of the Christian and civic republican traditions, and continues to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/this-emphasis-on-the-difference-between-intentions-and-ultimate/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“To us, the argument for material well-being might seem uncontroversial. But in the eighteenth century, material prosperity was frequently condemned as "luxury" by religious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/to-us-the-argument-for-material-well-being-might-seem-uncontroversial/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“...capitalism is too important and complex a subject to be left to economists. Achieving a critical comprehension of it requires perspectives beyond those characteristic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/capitalism-is-too-important-and-complex-a-subject-to-be-left-to/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“Arnold's notion of the intellectual as disinterested critic distinguished him from both Marx and Hegel. For Marx, the proper function of the intellectual was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/arnold-s-notion-of-the-intellectual-as-disinterested-critic/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“Central to Möser's view of the human world was "honor," a notion that was as important to corporatist society as the notion of dignity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/central-to-m-ser-s-view-of-the-human-world-was-honor-a-notion-that/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“It is all very well to have some internal sense of oneself as an individual, but that sense must correspond to an external reality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/it-is-all-very-well-to-have-some-internal-sense-of-oneself-as-an/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/material-prosperity/jerry-z-muller/#itemlist", "name": "1 Material Prosperity Quotes By Jerry Z. 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