Adam Smith Quotes

Philosopher

Adam Smith, a renowned philosopher and economist from Britain, was born on June 5, 1723, and died on July 17, 1790. Known as the father of modern economics, his work 'The Wealth of Nations' had a profound impact on the development of economics.

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Famous Adam Smith Quotes

“The rate of profit... is naturally low in rich and high in poor countries, and it is always highest in the countries which are going fastest to ruin.”

Country Poor Rich Highest Lows Economics Rate Profit Ruins Poor Countries

Author:Adam Smith

“When the toll upon carriages of luxury, upon coaches, post-chaises, etc. is made somewhat higher in proportion to their weight, than upon carriages of necessary use, such as carts, wagons, etc. the indolence and vanity of the rich is made to contribute in a very easy manner to the relief of the poor, by rendering cheaper the transportation of heavy goods to all the different parts of the country.”

Source: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations

“The proprietor of stock is necessarily a citizen of the world, and is not necessarily attached to any particular country.”

World Country Particular Citizens

Book:An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations

Source: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations

“It is not the actual greatness of national wealth, but its continual increase, which occasions a rise in the wages of labour. It is not, accordingly, in the richest countries, but in the most thriving, or in those which are growing rich the fastest, that the wages of labour are highest. England is certainly, in the present times, a much richer country than any part of North America. The wages of labour, however, are much higher in North America than in any part of England.”

Country America Wealth Rich Growing Greatness Higher Highest Increase England Occasions Labour Wages Minimum Wage North America Present Time Living Wage

Book:Wealth of Nations (Abridged)

Source: Wealth of Nations (Abridged)

“Justice, however, never was in reality administered gratis in any country. Lawyers and attornies, at least, must always be paid by the parties; and, if they were not, they would perform their duty still worse than they actually perform it.”

Ifs Stills Country Reality Justice Party Duty Paid Lawyer

Book:An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations

Source: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations

“China is a much richer country than any part of Europe.”

Country Europe China Wealth Of Nations

Book:An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations

Source: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations

“Good roads, canals, and navigable rivers, by diminishing the expence of carriage, put the remote parts of the country more nearly upon a level with with those of the neighbourhood of the town. They are upon that the greatest of all improvements.”

Country Levels Rivers Towns Improvement Carriages Canals Neighbourhoods

Book:The Wealth of Nations: the Great Master

Source: The Wealth of Nations: the Great Master

“A merchant, it has been said very properly, is not necessarily the citizen of any particular country.”

Has Beens Said Country Particular Citizens Economics Merchants

Book:The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations

Source: The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations

“As soon as the land of any country has all become private property, the landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed, and demand a rent even for its natural produce.”

Men Country Natural Land Produce Demand Economics Property Reap Private Property Property Rights Landlord Economic Inequality Real Property

Book:An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. With notes, and an additional vol., by D. Buchanan

Source: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. With notes, and an additional vol., by D. Buchanan

“It is not by augmenting the capital of the country, but by rendering a greater part of that capital active and productive than would otherwise be so, that the most judicious operations of banking can increase the industry of the country.”

Country Economy Greater Industry Increase Active Operations Productive Banking Rendering

Book:An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations

Source: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations

“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.”

Source: 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