62 Quotes by Jean-Baptiste Say

A tax can never be favorable to the public welfare, except by the good use that is made of its proceeds.

Capital must work, as it were, in concert with industry; and this concurrence is what I call the productive agency of capital.

In times of political confusion, and under an arbitrary government, many will prefer to keep their capital inactive, concealed, and unproductive, either of profit or gratification, rather than run the risk of its display. This latter evil is never felt under a good government.

What would people think of a tradesman, that was to give a ball in his shop, hire performers, and hand refreshments about, with a view to benefit his business?

The day will come, sooner or later, when people will wonder at the necessity of taking all this trouble to expose the folly of a system, so childish and absurd, and yet so often enforced at the point of a bayonet.

One product is always ultimately bought with another, even when paid for in the first instance with money.

Alas, how many have been persecuted for the wrong of having been right?

The command of a large sum is a dangerous temptation to a national administration. Though accumulated at their expense, the people rarely, if ever profit by it: yet in point of fact, all value, and consequently, all wealth, originates with the people.

The difficulty lies, not in finding a producer, but in finding a consumer.