33 Quotes by Russ Roberts

We tried buying local once; it was called the Middle Ages.

Smith is showing us a better path to contentment than the one the world holds out to seduce us with. There is another way to be loved. Instead of pursuing attention via wealth or fame or power, pursue wisdom and goodness. There are two ways to be loved, to satisfy the desire we all have in us to be noticed and to be somebody. The first path is to be rich, famous, powerful. The second path is to be wise and virtuous.

A modern way to capture what Smith is talking about when he talks about being loved and being lovely is authenticity. We want to be real, and we want the people around us to be real in how they think about us. Respect or love or attention that is inaccurate because I don’t deserve it isn’t real. Someone who is thought to be lovely, but who knows he isn’t, is living a lie.

What can be added to the happiness of the man who is in health, who is out of debt, and has a clear conscience?

Emotional interaction is a duet in which we are constantly fine-tuning our volume to match that of our fellow.

Rather than revving up our feelings of injustice, Smith is telling us a way to find serenity. Wag more, bark less.