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Quotes from A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) — Jean-Baptiste Say

d. 1832 France

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68 quotes

Law has been unjustly charged with the whole blame of the calamities resulting from the scheme that bears his name.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

The sea and wind can at the same time convey my neighbour's vessel and my own.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

An uniformity of weights and measures, arranged upon mathematical principles, would be a benefit to the whole commercial world, if it were wise enough to adopt such an expedient.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

The best scheme of finance is, to spend as little as possible; and the best tax is always the lightest.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

What is the motive which operates in every man's breast to counteract the impulse towards the gratification of his wants and appetites?

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

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

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

The love of domination never attains more than a factitious elevation, that is sure to make enemies of all its neighbours.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

Which leads us to a conclusion that may at first appear paradoxical, namely, that it is production which opens a demand for products.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

"At Newfoundland, it is said, that dried cod performs the office of money,"

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

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

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

To have never done anything but make the eighteenth part of a pin, is a sorry account for a human being to give of his existence.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

The most effectual encouragement to population is, the activity of industry, and the consequent multiplication of the national products.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

If the community wish to have the benefit of more knowledge and intelligence in the labouring classes, it must dispense it at the public charge.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

Nothing is more dangerous in practice, than an obstinate, unbending adherence to a system, particularly in its application to the wants and errors of mankind.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

Taxation being a burthen, must needs weigh lightest on each individual, when it bears upon all alike.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

I have made no distinction between the circulation of goods and of money, because there really is none.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

The quantity of money, which is readily parted with to obtain a thing is called its price.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

Valuation is vague and arbitrary, when there is no assurance that it will be generally acquiesced in by others.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

Political economy has only become a science since it has been confined to the results of inductive investigation.

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

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

A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Jean-Baptiste Say (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.