Adam Smith
Father of economics, The Wealth of Nations
Most quoted
"As every individual, therefore, endeavours as much as he can both to employ his capital in the support of domestic industry, and so to direct that industry that its produce may be of the greatest value; every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention."
— from The Wealth of Nations, 1776
"The sovereign has only three duties to attend to; three duties of great importance, indeed, but plain and intelligible to common understandings: first, the duty of protecting the society from the violence and invasion of other independent societies; secondly, the duty of protecting, as far as possible, every member of the society from the injustice or oppression of every other member of it, or the duty of establishing an exact administration of justice; and, thirdly, the duty of erecting and maintaining certain public works and certain public institutions, which it can never be for the interest of any individual, or small number of individuals, to erect and maintain."
— from The Wealth of Nations, 1776
"He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention."
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776
All quotes by Adam Smith (221)
All money is a matter of belief.
The chief enjoyment of riches consists in the parade of riches.
Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.
The uniform, constant, and uninterrupted effort of every man to better his condition... is frequently powerful enough to maintain the natural progress of things toward improvement.
It is not wealth that delights us, but the consciousness of wealth.
The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.
Labor was the first price, the original purchase - money that was paid for all things.
In general, indeed, it is the rich who are most benefited by the laws of property, and who are most interested in maintaining them.
Sympathy... is the principle by which we enter into the concerns of others.
The disposition to truck, barter, and exchange, is common to all men, and to be found in no other race of animals.
A monopoly granted either to an individual or to a trading company has the same effect as a secret in trade or manufactures.
The meanest of people have something to say.
I have not always been in the habit of relating what I have seen or heard.
The death of Dr. Hugh Blair was to me a most melancholy event.
Wonder, therefore, and not any expectation of advantage from its discoveries, is the first principle which prompts mankind to the study of Philosophy, of that science which pretends to lay open the concealed connections that unite the various appearances of nature.
The real and effectual discipline which is exercised over the majority of mankind is that which they impose upon themselves.
If we should inquire, therefore, into the principle in the human mind on which this disposition of approbation and disapprobation is evidently founded, we should find that it is not any expectation of advantage from our approbation.
The poor man's son, whom heaven has in its anger visited with ambition, may be ruined by the attempt to overtake the great man.
The great mob of mankind are the admirers and flatterers of wealth and greatness.
The theory of moral philosophy... seems to be a system of casuistry, intended to teach men how to live.
Contemporaries of Adam Smith
Other Economicss born within 50 years of Adam Smith (1723–1790).