338 Quotes by Adam Smith

The first thing you have to know is yourself. A man who knows himself can step outside himself and watch his own reactions like an observer.

Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice: all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things.

The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities.

Every man lives by exchanging.

There is no art which one government sooner learns of another than that of draining money from the pockets of the people.

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

Nadie ha visto nunca a un perro hacer un intercambio justo y deliberado de un hueso por otro con otro perro. Nadie ha visto a un animal que, con gestos y sonidos naturales, indique a otro: esto es mío y esto es tuyo; estoy dispuesto a darte esto a cambio de eso

The State (meaning the gov't and society) derives no inconsiderable advantage from the peoples instruction (in other words, education). The more they are instructed, the less liable they are to the delusions of enthusiasm and superstition. . . .The expense of the institutions for education and religious instruction, is likewise, no doubt, beneficial to the whole society, and may, therefore, without injustice, be defrayed by the general contribution of society.

A man must always live by his work, and his wages must at least be sufficient to maintain him. They must even upon most occasions be somewhat more; otherwise it would be impossible for him to bring up a family, and the race of such workmen could not last beyond the first generation.