PinThe first thing you have to know is yourself. A man who knows himself can step outside himself and watch his own reactions like an observer.PinMercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.PinThere is no art which one government sooner learns of another than that of draining money from the pockets of the people.PinIt is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.PinScience is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.PinLabour was the first price, the original purchase – money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased.PinNo society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.PinA nation is not made wealthy by the childish accumulation of shiny metals, but it enriched by the economic prosperity of its people.PinMan is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this – no dog exchanges bones with another.PinNever complain of that of which it is at all times in your power to rid yourself.
8 Adam Smith Quotes on Life and Happiness
“The man whose whole life is spent in performing a few simple operations, of which the effects are perhaps always the same, or very nearly the same, has no occasion to exert his understanding or to exercise his invention in finding out expedients for removing difficulties which never occur. He naturally loses, therefore, the habit of such exertion, and generally becomes as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human creature to become.”
Adam Smith
PinNothing is more graceful than habitual cheerfulness.PinWhat can be added to the happiness of the man who is in health, who is out of debt, and has a clear conscience?PinOn the road from the City of Skepticism, I had to pass through the Valley of Ambiguity.PinTo feel much for others and little for ourselves; to restrain our selfishness and exercise our benevolent affections, constitute the perfection of human nature.PinVirtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.PinHappiness never lays its finger on its pulse.
“How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.”
Adam Smith
8 Wise Adam Smith Quotes to Ponder Upon
PinThe learned ignore the evidence of their senses to preserve the coherence of the ideas of their imagination.PinProblems worthy of attacks, prove their worth by hitting back.PinAll for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind.PinIndividual ambition serves the common good.PinHumanity is the virtue of a woman, generosity that of a man.PinThe real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations.PinWhat is prudence in the conduct of every private family can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom.PinI have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.
6 Adam Smith Quotes on Money and Richness
PinEvery man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniences, and amusements of human life.PinIt is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.PinThe real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.PinAll money is a matter of belief.PinWith the greater part of rich people, the chief enjoyment of riches consists in the parade of riches.PinNo complaint… is more common than that of a scarcity of money.
5 Adam Smith Quotes on Economics and Government that will Make You Think
“But avarice and ambition in the rich, in the poor the hatred of labour and the love of present ease and enjoyment, are the passions which prompt to invade property, passions much more steady in their operation, and much more universal in their influence. Wherever there is great property there is great inequality. For one very rich man there must be at least five hundred poor, and the affluence of the few supposes the indigence of the many.”
Adam Smith
PinIn regards to the price of commodities, the rise of wages operates as simple interest does, the rise of profit operates like compound interest.PinAs soon as the land of any country has all become private property, the landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed, and demand a rent even for its natural produce.PinThe subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities…PinEvery tax ought to be levied at the time, or in the manner, in which it is most likely to be convenient for the contributor to pay…
6 Adam Smith Quotes on Labour and Trade
“It is the great multiplication of the productions of all the different arts, in consequence of the division of labour, which occasions, in a well-governed society, that universal opulence which extends itself to the lowest ranks of the people.”
Adam Smith
PinLabor was the first price, the original purchase – money that was paid for all things.
“Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer.”
Adam Smith
PinIn general, if any branch of trade, or any division of labour, be advantageous to the public, the freer and more general the competition, it will always be the more so.PinEvery man lives by exchanging.
“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.”
Adam Smith
(MUST READ) An Inquiry Into The Nature and Cause of The Wealth of Nations
Overcoming depression and suicidal thoughts, Jeremiah Say found solace in quotes. After filling countless pages with resonating words, he moved his collection online to save trees and inspire others. Thus, GraciousQuotes.com was born. Jeremiah firmly believes in the power of quotes to swiftly spark inspiration during hard times. His blog is dedicated to uplifting others through these shared wisdoms. Discover more about Gracious Quotes or get in touch with Jeremiah.