Adam Smith

The invisible hand is not a magical force, but a metaphor for the unintended social benefits of individual self-interested actions.

The consideration of our own private interest is the great source of our industry and activity.

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

The real and effectual discipline which is exercised over a workman is that of his customers. It is the fear of losing their custom which hinders him from either frequently or greatly relaxing his application.

The division of labour, however, so far as it can be introduced, occasions, in every art, a proportionable increase of the productive powers of labour.

The most important consequences of the division of labour have been, first, the great increase of the quantity of work which, in consequence of it, the same number of people are capable of performing; and, secondly, the improvement of the skill and dexterity of the workman.

The value of any commodity, therefore, to the person who possesses it, and who means not to use or consume it himself, but to exchange it for other commodities, is equal to the quantity of labour which it enables him to purchase or command.

The quantity of every commodity brought to market naturally adjusts itself to the effectual demand.

The man whose whole life is spent in performing a few simple operations, of which the effects too are, perhaps, always the same, or very nearly the same, has no occasion to exert his understanding, or to exercise his invention in finding out expedients for removing difficulties which never occur. He naturally loses, therefore, the habit of such exertion, and generally becomes as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human creature to become.

The expense of the institutions for education, therefore, may no doubt afford a revenue sufficient for defraying their own expense, and for rewarding a few of the more eminent teachers.

The first duty of the sovereign, therefore, is that of protecting the society from the violence and invasion of other independent societies.

The second duty of the sovereign, that 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.

The third and last duty of the sovereign or commonwealth is that of erecting and maintaining those public institutions and those public works, which, though they may be in the highest degree advantageous to a great society, are, however, of such a nature, that the profit could never repay the expense to any individual or small number of individuals, and which it therefore cannot be expected that any individual or small number of individuals should erect or maintain.

The property of a master in the service of his servants is not a thing that is found in any of the fundamental laws of nature.

The interest of the landlord is always, more or less, connected with the general interest of the society.

The wealth of a country consists, not in its gold and silver only, but in its lands, houses, and consumable goods of all different kinds.

The most opulent nations, indeed, generally excel all their neighbours in agriculture as well as in manufactures; but they are to be envied, not on account of their opulence, but on account of their freedom, security, and the good administration of justice.

The whole annual produce of the land and labour of every country, or what comes to the same thing, the whole price of that annual produce, naturally divides itself, as has already been observed, into three parts; the rent of land, the wages of labour, and the profits of stock; and constitutes a revenue to three different orders of people; to those who live by rent, to those who live by wages, and to those who live by profit. These are the three great original constituent orders of every civilized society, from whose revenue that of every other order is ultimately derived.

Labour alone, therefore, never varying in its own value, is alone the ultimate and real standard by which the value of all commodities can at all times and places be estimated and compared. It is their real price; money is their nominal price only.

The most sacred laws of justice, therefore, are those which guard the life and person of our neighbour; the next are those which guard his property and possessions; and last of all come those which guard what are called his personal rights, or what is due to him from the promises of others.