Adam Smith

The rich, by consuming the produce of the labour of the poor, in fact, employ them, and give them a maintenance.

The labour of the manufacturer fixes and realizes itself in some particular subject or vendible commodity, which lasts for some time at least after that labour is past. The labour of the menial servant, on the contrary, does not fix or realize itself in any particular subject or vendible commodity. His services generally perish in the very instant of their performance, and seldom leave any trace or value behind them for which an equal quantity of service could afterwards be procured.

The price of monopoly is upon every occasion the highest which can be got.

With the greater part of rich people, the chief enjoyment of riches consists in the parade of riches, which in their eye is never so complete as when they appear to possess those decisive marks of opulence which nobody can possess but themselves.

The great secret of education is to direct vanity to proper objects.

The great source of our miseries is the comparison of our own condition with that of others.

The rich man glories in his riches, because he feels that they naturally draw upon him the attention of the world.

The greatest and most important branch of the commerce of every nation, is that which is carried on between the inhabitants of the town and those of the country. The one furnishes the other with raw materials, which it works up into manufactured articles, and returns to the other, to be again exchanged for more raw materials, and other necessaries of life.

The value of a commodity, or the quantity of any other commodity for which it will exchange, depends on the quantity of labour which it enables him to purchase or command.

The highest and most important office of government is to maintain justice.

Every man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniencies, and amusements of human life.

The expense of defending the society, and that of supporting the dignity of the chief magistrate, are both laid out for the general benefit of the whole society. It is reasonable, therefore, that they should be defrayed by the general contribution of the whole society, all the different members contributing, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities.

The greatest fault of the rich is that they are less sensible of the wants of the poor than the poor are of the wants of the rich.

The desire of building, and the love of distinction, are the passions which give the greatest encouragement to the fine arts.

The common people are always more afraid of the king, and the nobility, than of each other.

The most opulent nations, indeed, are in general the most happy and comfortable.

The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition, when suffered to exert itself with freedom and security, is so powerful a principle, that it is alone, and without any assistance, not only capable of carrying on the society to wealth and prosperity, but of surmounting a hundred impertinent obstructions with which the folly of human laws too often incumbers its operations.

The great object of the political economy of every country is to increase the riches and power of that country.

The annual produce of the land and labour of the society, the real revenue of all its inhabitants.

The love of praise, and the dread of blame, are, in a great measure, the springs of our activity.