--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Economy is a distributive virtue, and…" description: "\"Economy is a distributive virtue, and consists not in saving but selection. Parsimony requires no providence, no sagacity, no powers of combination, no..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/edmund-burke-400_combination_economy-is-a-distributive-virtue-and-con_1119107.jpg" --- # Economy is a distributive virtue, and consists not in… ![“Economy is a distributive virtue, and consists not in saving but selection. Parsimony requires no providence, no sagacity, no powers of combination, no comparison, no judgment.” quote by Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/edmund-burke-400_combination_economy-is-a-distributive-virtue-and-con_1119107.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/edmund-burke-400_combination_economy-is-a-distributive-virtue-and-con_1119107.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/edmund-burke-400_combination_economy-is-a-distributive-virtue-and-con_1119107.jpg) > “Economy is a distributive virtue, and consists not in saving but selection. Parsimony requires no providence, no sagacity, no powers of combination, no comparison, no judgment.” [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True economy means choosing the right things, not merely saving; wise selection is the key virtue. **In simple terms:** Economy is about smart choices, not just hoarding. Key Takeaway Prioritize quality over quantity in spending. Themes economy wisdom decision making Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - personal budgeting - business investment decisions - public policy planning Key Concepts philosophy ethics resource allocation Questions to Reflect On - What criteria guide your selections? - How do you balance frugality with quality? A Different Perspective Selection can be biased by limited information or personal prejudice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comparison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Parsimony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parsimony/) [Providence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/providence/) [Sagacity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sagacity/) [Saving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saving/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [Economy is a distributive virtue, and consists not in saving but in selection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/economy-is-a-distributive-virtue-and-consists-not-in-saving-but-in/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Mere parsimony is not economy. Expense, and great expense, may be an essential part in true economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/mere-parsimony-is-not-economy-expense-and-great-expense-may-be-an/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Expense, and great expense, may be an essential part in true economy. If parsimony were to be considered as one of the kinds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/expense-and-great-expense-may-be-an-essential-part-in-true-economy-if/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [ Nothing perhaps has so retarded the reception of the higher conclusions of Geology among men in general, as ... \[the\] instinctive parsimony of the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lapworth/nothing-perhaps-has-so-retarded-the-reception-of-the-higher/) [Charles Lapworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lapworth/) > [Capitals are increased by parsimony, and diminished by prodigalityand misconduct. By what a frugal man annually saves he not onlyaffords maintenance to an additional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/capitals-are-increased-by-parsimony-and-diminished-by-prodigalityand/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [The principle of parsimony is valid esthetically in that the artist must not go beyond what is needed for his purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/the-principle-of-parsimony-is-valid-esthetically-in-that-the-artist/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [In my view, the argument from parsimony is really no argument at all - it typically functions only to shut down more interesting discussion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/in-my-view-the-argument-from-parsimony-is-really-no-argument-at-all/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [I would rather be a beggar and spend my money like a king, than be a king and spend money like a beggar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/i-would-rather-be-a-beggar-and-spend-my-money-like-a-king-than-be-a/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Evolutionary biologists often appeal to parsimony when they seek to explain why organisms "match" with respect to a given trait. For example, why do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-sober/evolutionary-biologists-often-appeal-to-parsimony-when-they-seek-to/) [Elliott Sober](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-sober/) > [It is more parsimonious to assume that the sun goes around the Earth, that atoms at the smallest scale operate in accordance with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/it-is-more-parsimonious-to-assume-that-the-sun-goes-around-the-earth/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [It really comes down to parsimony, economy of explanation. It is possible that your car engine is driven by psychokinetic energy, but if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-really-comes-down-to-parsimony-economy-of-explanation-it-is/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [My father died when I was two years old. But my mother was quite capable. She raised three children with his war pension which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giulio-andreotti/my-father-died-when-i-was-two-years-old-but-my-mother-was-quite/) [Giulio Andreotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giulio-andreotti/) > [With parsimony a little is sufficient; without it nothing is sufficient; but frugality makes a poor man rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/with-parsimony-a-little-is-sufficient-without-it-nothing-is/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [There is nothing worse than being ashamed of parsimony or poverty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/there-is-nothing-worse-than-being-ashamed-of-parsimony-or-poverty/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) > [While society cannot provide employment for its members, the production/work/income nexus has to be abandoned as a justification for our present parsimony to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hawke/while-society-cannot-provide-employment-for-its-members-the/) [Bob Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hawke/) ## More by Edmund Burke > [It is the interest of the commercial world that wealth should be found everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/it-is-the-interest-of-the-commercial-world-that-wealth-should-be/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“Many of the greatest tyrants on the records of history have begun their reigns in the fairest manner. But the truth is, this unnatural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/many-of-the-greatest-tyrants-on-the-records-of-history-have-begun/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“Wise men will apply their remedies to vices, not to names; to the causes of evil which are permanent, not to the occasional organs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/wise-men-will-apply-their-remedies-to-vices-not-to-names-to-the/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“A man full of warm, speculative benevolence may wish his society otherwise constituted than he finds it; but a good patriot, and a true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-man-full-of-warm-speculative-benevolence-may-wish-his-society/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [My vigour relents. I pardon something to the spirit of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/my-vigour-relents-i-pardon-something-to-the-spirit-of-liberty/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [A speculative despair is unpardonable where it our duty to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-speculative-despair-is-unpardonable-where-it-our-duty-to-act/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The great must submit to the dominion of prudence and of virtue, or none will long submit to the dominion of thegreat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-great-must-submit-to-the-dominion-of-prudence-and-of-virtue-or/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/those-who-have-been-once-intoxicated-with-power-and-have-derived-any/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [What is it we all seek for in an election? To answer its real purposes, you must first possess the means of knowing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/what-is-it-we-all-seek-for-in-an-election-to-answer-its-real-purposes/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Society is indeed a contract. It is a partnership in all science; a partnership in all art; a partnership in every virtue, and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/society-is-indeed-a-contract-it-is-a-partnership-in-all-science-a/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [You can never plan the future by the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/you-can-never-plan-the-future-by-the-past/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The great inlet by which a colour for oppression has entered into the world is by one man's pretending to determine concerning the happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-great-inlet-by-which-a-colour-for-oppression-has-entered-into-the/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [By the disposition of a stupendous wisdom, moulding together the great mysterious incorporation of the human race, the whole, at one time, is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/by-the-disposition-of-a-stupendous-wisdom-moulding-together-the-great/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Religion, to have any force upon men's understandings,--indeed, to exist at all,--must be supposed paramount to law, and independent for its substance upon any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/religion-to-have-any-force-upon-men-s-understandings-indeed-to-exist/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) [Explore all 595 Edmund Burke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) ## More Combination quotes > [Anytime there is any lyrical meaning or combination in my mixes, it's very blatant. I'm not trying to make any statement or anything like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/girl-talk/anytime-there-is-any-lyrical-meaning-or-combination-in-my-mixes-it-s/) [Girl Talk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/girl-talk/) > [We do not claim that punning is legitimate wit. Wit consists in combination of ideas, punning in combination of words only. We wonder at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-hosmer/we-do-not-claim-that-punning-is-legitimate-wit-wit-consists-in/) [Harriet Hosmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-hosmer/) > [A successful director is someone who has the combination of skills that you can learn, but there's also an intuitive sensibility that they bring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-heinrichs/a-successful-director-is-someone-who-has-the-combination-of-skills/) [Rick Heinrichs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-heinrichs/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [The combination of such characters, some, as the sacral ones, altogether peculiar among Reptiles, others borrowed, as it were, from groups now distinct from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-owen/the-combination-of-such-characters-some-as-the-sacral-ones-altogether/) [Richard Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-owen/) > [Henry Kissinger may have wished I had presented him as a combination of Charles DeGaulle and Disraeli, but I didn't…out of respect for DeGaulle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/henry-kissinger-may-have-wished-i-had-presented-him-as-a-combination/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [A combination of the qualities of the scholar, the master cook, the painter, the gastronomer, the sportsman and the pantologist, assisted by the skill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-ellwanger/a-combination-of-the-qualities-of-the-scholar-the-master-cook-the/) [George Ellwanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-ellwanger/) > [I did play a lot of fingerstyle when I first started playing. I could never really find the right combination of flatpick or fingerpick,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-clapton/i-did-play-a-lot-of-fingerstyle-when-i-first-started-playing-i-could/) [Eric Clapton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-clapton/) > [Ballet is pure and demands that you serve something larger than yourself, whether it be beauty or art, or a combination of both. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-martins/ballet-is-pure-and-demands-that-you-serve-something-larger-than/) Peter Martins > [A thorough understanding of the typical mating continuations makes the most complicated sacrificial combinations leading up to them not only not difficult, but almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegbert-tarrasch/a-thorough-understanding-of-the-typical-mating-continuations-makes/) [Siegbert Tarrasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegbert-tarrasch/) > [I am a combination of my entire family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dionne-warwick/i-am-a-combination-of-my-entire-family/) [Dionne Warwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dionne-warwick/) > [As I work day after day, inspirations from different places go into the work. It's combination, but it's also comparative. I'll be reading two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-banisadr/as-i-work-day-after-day-inspirations-from-different-places-go-into/) [Ali Banisadr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-banisadr/) > [Emile Zola was a poor student at his school at Aix. We are all so different largely because we all have different combinations of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-gardner/emile-zola-was-a-poor-student-at-his-school-at-aix-we-are-all-so/) [Howard Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-gardner/) > [“the previous weeks – a combination of being”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-previous-weeks-a-combination-of-being/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 1,578 Combination quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Economy is a distributive virtue, and consists not in saving but selection. Parsimony requires no providence, no sagacity, no powers of combination, no comparison, no judgment.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edmund Burke" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/economy-is-a-distributive-virtue-and-consists-not-in-saving-but/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Combination" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/economy-is-a-distributive-virtue-and-consists-not-in-saving-but/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/edmund-burke-400_combination_economy-is-a-distributive-virtue-and-con_1119107.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/edmund-burke-400_combination_economy-is-a-distributive-virtue-and-con_1119107.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/edmund-burke-400_combination_economy-is-a-distributive-virtue-and-con_1119107.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Economy is a distributive virtue, and consists not in saving but selection. Parsimony requires no…” — Edmund Burke", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edmund Burke", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Economy is a distributive virtue, and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/economy-is-a-distributive-virtue-and-consists-not-in-saving-but/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/economy-is-a-distributive-virtue-and-consists-not-in-saving-but/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```