The man scarce lives who is not more credulous than he ought to be. The natural disposition is always to believe. It is acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough.
ADAM SMITHI have no faith in political arithmetic.
More Adam Smith Quotes
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Great nations are never impoverished by private, though they sometimes are by public prodigality and misconduct.
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All 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.
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The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which it is anywhere directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects of the division of labour.
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What is prudence in the conduct of every private family can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom.
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The division of labour was limited by the extent of the market.
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He is led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.
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It is the highest impertinence and presumption, therefore, in kings and ministers to pretend to watch over the economy of private people, and to restrain their expense. They are themselves, always, and without any exception, the greatest spendthrifts in the society.
ADAM SMITH -
Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow-citizens.
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Every man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniences, and amusements of human life.
ADAM SMITH -
The real and effectual discipline which is exercised over a workman is that of his customers. It is the fear of losing their employment which restrains his frauds and corrects his negligence.
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A very poor man may be said in some sense to have a demand for a coach and six; he might like to have it; but his demand is not an effectual demand, as the commodity can never be brought to market in order to satisfy it.
ADAM SMITH -
In the long-run the workman may be as necessary to his master as his master is to him, but the necessity is not so immediate.
ADAM SMITH -
The problem with fiat money is that it rewards the minority that can handle money, but fools the generation that has worked and saved money.
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Goods can serve many other purposes besides purchasing money, but money can serve no other purpose besides purchasing goods.
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Nothing but the most exemplary morals can give dignity to a man of small fortune.
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A nation is not made wealthy by the childish accumulation of shiny metals, but it enriched by the economic prosperity of it’s people.
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With the greater part of rich people, the chief enjoyment of riches consists in the parade of riches.
ADAM SMITH -
Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this – no dog exchanges bones with another.
ADAM SMITH -
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 -
The learned ignore the evidence of their senses to preserve the coherence of the ideas of their imagination.
ADAM SMITH -
We are but one of the multitude, in no respect better than any other in it.
ADAM SMITH -
Defense is superior to opulence.
ADAM SMITH -
It is not by augmenting the capital of the country, but by rendering a greater part of that capital active and productive than would otherwise be so, that the most judicious operations of banking can increase the industry of the country.
ADAM SMITH -
No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.
ADAM SMITH -
The violence and injustice of the rulers of mankind is an ancient evil, for which, I am afraid, the nature of human affairs can scarce admit a remedy.
ADAM SMITH -
The interest of the dealers, however, in any particular branch of trade or manufactures, is always in some respects different from, and even opposite to, that of the public. To widen the market and to narrow the competition, is always the interest of the dealers.
ADAM SMITH