Skip to content

Adam Smith Quotes

1723–1790 Scotland

Adam Smith (16 June 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish-born economist and philosopher, widely considered the "father of modern economics".

Scotland
Academics
Business theorists
Economists
Logicians

Also known as: Smith, Adam, Smithian, Smithianism, Smithians

Random Adam Smith quote

133 quotes

Monopoly of one kind or another, indeed, seems to be the sole engine of the mercantile system.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

The tolls for the maintenance of a high road, cannot with any safety be made the property of private persons.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

Marriage is encouraged in China, not by the profitableness of children, but by the liberty of destroying them.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

Resentment seems to have been given us by nature for a defense, and for a defense only.

The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)

It is the natural effect of improvement, however, to diminish gradually the real price of almost all manufactures.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

Secrets in manufactures are capable of being longer kept than secrets in trade.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

In public, as well as in private expences, great wealth may, perhaps, frequently be admitted as an apology for great folly.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

Goods can serve many other purposes besides purchasing money, but money can serve no other purpose besides purchasing goods.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

It seldom happens, however, that a great proprietor is a great improver.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

In England, and in all Roman Catholic countries, the lottery of the church is in reality much more advantageous than is necessary.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

The importation of gold and silver is not the principal, much less the sole benefit which a nation derives from its foreign trade.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

The natural price, therefore, is, as it were, the central price, to which the prices of all commodities are continually gravitating.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

When the profits of trade happen to be greater than ordinary, over-trading becomes a general error both among great and small dealers.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

It is unjust that the whole of society should contribute towards an expence of which the benefit is confined to a part of the society.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

Wherever there is great property, there is great inequality.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

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

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

Corn is a necessary, silver is only a superfluity.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

III. Every tax ought to be levied at the time, or in the manner, in which it is most likely to be convenient for the contributor to pay it.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

The annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniences of life which it annually consumes.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

They say nothing concerning the bad effects of high profits. They are silent with regard to the pernicious effects of their own gains. They complain only of those of other people.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Adam Smith (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.