The man of system, on the contrary, is apt to be very wise in his own conceit; and is often so enamoured… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
There is no art which government sooner learns of another than that of draining money from the pockets of the people. — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
Every tax, however, is to the person who pays it a badge, not of slavery but of liberty. It denotes that he… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
The uniform, constant, and uninterrupted effort of every man to better his condition . . . is frequently powerful enough to maintain… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
The sneaking arts of underling tradesmen are thus erected into political maxims for the conduct of a great empire; for it is… — 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
I have no great faith in political arithmetic, and I mean not to warrant the exactness of either of these computations. — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
Fear is in almost all cases a wretched instrument of government, and ought in particular never to be employed against any order… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
“Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defence of the… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
The subjects of every state ought to contribute toward the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
Great nations are never impoverished by private, though they sometimes are by public prodigality and misconduct. — 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
A criminal is a person with predatory instincts who has not sufficient capital to form a corporation.Most government is by the rich… — 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
Ask any rich man of common prudence to which of the two sorts of people he has lent the greater part of… — 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
