Adam Smith
Scottish moral philosopher and economist (1723 to 1790); held the chair of moral philosophy at Glasgow University from 1752 to 1764; author of The Wealth of Nations.
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What they believe
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Every person is rich or poor according to how far they can afford the necessities, conveniences and pleasures of life
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.
gutenberg.orgSaid 9 Mar 1776This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These one: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 7 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
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Every person is rich or poor according to how far they can afford the necessities, conveniences and pleasures of life
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.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Said 9 Mar 1776
We get our dinner from traders by appealing to their self-interest, not to their kindness
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. We address ourselves, not to their humanity, but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Said 9 Mar 1776
High wages are both the effect and the natural sign of a nation growing richer
The liberal reward of labour, therefore, as it is the necessary effect, so it is the natural symptom of increasing national wealth.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Said 9 Mar 1776
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No society can flourish when most of its members are poor, and those who feed and house everyone deserve to be decently fed and housed
No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable. It is but equity, besides, that they who feed, clothe, and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labour as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed, and lodged.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Said 9 Mar 1776
When people in the same trade meet, the talk usually turns to conspiring against the public or raising prices
People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Said 9 Mar 1776
By pursuing their own interest, people frequently serve society better than when they set out to serve it
By pursuing his own interest, he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Said 9 Mar 1776
A worker who spends a whole life on a few simple, repetitive tasks generally loses the habit of thinking
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.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Said 9 Mar 1776
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