Adam Smith Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations.”

“No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.”

“Labour 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.”

“To feel much for others and little for ourselves; to restrain our selfishness and exercise our benevolent affections, constitute the perfection of human nature.”

“It 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.”

“Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this - no dog exchanges bones with another.”

“What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?”

“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.”

“Great ambition, the desire of real superiority, of leading and directing, seems to be altogether peculiar to man, and speech is the great instrument of ambition.”

“No complaint... is more common than that of a scarcity of money.”