How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
“I have always considered David Hume as approaching as nearly the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous man as perhaps the… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
The natural price, therefore, is, as it were, the central price, to which the prices of all commodities are continually gravitating. — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
The violence and injustice of the rulers of mankind is an ancient evil, for which, I am afraid, the nature of human… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
A power to dispose of estates for ever is manifestly absurd. The earth and the fulness of it belongs to every generation,… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
Wonder... and not any expectation of advantage from its discoveries, is the first principle which prompts mankind to the study of Philosophy,… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
The difference between the most dissimilar characters, between a philosopher and a common street porter, for example, seems to arise not so… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
“The man who indulges us in this natural passion, who invites us into his heart, who, as it were, sets open the… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
It is the natural effect of improvement, however, to diminish gradually the real price of almost all manufactures. — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
“The produce of the soil maintains at all times nearly that number of inhabitants which it is capable of maintaining. The rich… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
In every part of the universe we observe means adjusted with the nicest artifice to the ends which they are intended to… — 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
By nature a philosopher is not in genius and disposition half so different from a street porter, as a mastiff is from… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
“Upon the whole, I have always considered him, both in his lifetime and since his death, as approaching as nearly to the… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
“Whether this propensity be one of those original principles in human nature of which no further account can be given; or whether,… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
Resentment seems to have been given us by nature for a defense, and for a defense only! It is the safeguard of… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
As soon as government management begins it upsets the natural equilibrium of industrial relations, and each interference only requires further bureaucratic control… — 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
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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow-citizens. — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
