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The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations: With an introduction by Jonathan B. Wight, University of Richmond

Book by Adam Smith · 8 quotes · Contrary, Subjects, Accounts

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The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations: With an introduction by Jonathan B. Wight, University of Richmond Quotes

“I am always willing to run some hazard of being tedious, in order to be sure that I am perspicuous; and, after taking the utmost pains that I can to be perspicuous, some obscurity may still appear to remain upon a subject, in its own nature extremely abstracted.”

MayStillsI CanRunningPainOrderSubjectsWillingObscurityTediousHazards
Book:The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations: With an introduction by Jonathan B. Wight, University of Richmond
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“The retinue of a grandee in China or Indostan accordingly is, by all accounts, much more numerous and splendid than that of the richest subjects of Europe.”

SubjectsEuropeAccountsChinaSplendid
Book:The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations: With an introduction by Jonathan B. Wight, University of Richmond
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“The importation of gold and silver is not the principal, much less the sole benefit which a nation derives from its foreign trade.”

NationsBenefitsGoldTradeSilverSolePrincipalGold And SilverImportationForeign Trade
Book:The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations: With an introduction by Jonathan B. Wight, University of Richmond
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“I have no great faith in political arithmetic, and I mean not to warrant the exactness of either of these computations.”

MeanPoliticalArithmeticWarrantsGreat FaithComputationExactness
Book:The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations: With an introduction by Jonathan B. Wight, University of Richmond
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“Thus the labour of a manufacture adds, generally, to the value of the materials which he works upon, that of his own maintenance, and of his masters profits. The labour of a menial servant, on the contrary, adds to the value of nothing.”

ValuesMaterialsMastersAddProfitContraryServantLabourMaintenance
Book:The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations: With an introduction by Jonathan B. Wight, University of Richmond
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“The cheapness of wine seems to be a cause, not of drunkenness, but of sobriety. ...People are seldom guilty of excess in what is their daily fare... On the contrary, in the countries which, either from excessive heat or cold, produce no grapes, and where wine consequently is dear and a rarity, drunkenness is a common vice.”

PeopleCountrySeemsCausesCommonProduceColdWineDearVicesContraryGuiltyHeatExcessGrapesDrunkennessSobrietyRarityCheapness
Book:The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations: With an introduction by Jonathan B. Wight, University of Richmond
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