David Ricardo

The rate of profit can never be increased but by a fall in the wages of labour.

The price of corn is not high because rent is paid, but rent is paid because corn is high.

The principle of population, as propounded by Mr. Malthus, is an important truth.

The value of a commodity is not affected by the greater or less facility with which it is produced, but by the quantity of labour necessary to produce it.

The natural price of labour, therefore, depends on the price of food, necessaries, and conveniences required for the support of the labourer and his family.

The market price of labour, though it has a natural tendency to conform to the natural price, may, in consequence of the increase or diminution of capital, deviate considerably from it.

It is only because the land is of different qualities, that rent is ever paid for the use of it.

The landlord's interest is always opposed to the interest of the consumer and the manufacturer.

The difficulty of obtaining food, and not the quantity of land in cultivation, is the cause of high rents.

The progress of society is marked by the increasing difficulty of providing food for its increasing population.

The value of money depends on the quantity of it in circulation, and on the rapidity of its circulation.

The capitalist, who is the employer of labour, is interested in keeping down the wages of labour.

The interest of the labourer is to obtain as high wages as possible.

The quantity of labour required to produce a commodity is the only measure of its value.

The exchangeable value of commodities is regulated by the quantity of labour necessary to produce them.

The profits of stock are regulated by the proportion which the whole produce of the land and labour of the country bears to the whole capital employed in its cultivation.

The rate of profit is determined by the proportion of the produce of labour which is allotted to the capitalist.

The value of gold and silver, like that of all other commodities, is regulated by the quantity of labour necessary to produce them.

The wealth of a country depends on the quantity of its produce, and not on the quantity of its money.

The interest of the landlord is always opposed to that of the capitalist and the labourer.