52 quotes
With regard to the duration of human life, there does not appear to have existed from the earliest ages of the world to the present moment the smallest permanent symptom or indication of increasing prolongation.
An Essay on The Principle of Population (1798)
If a country can only be rich by running a successful race for low wages, I should be disposed to say at once, perish such riches!
Principles of Political Economy (1836)
Man cannot live in the midst of plenty.
An Essay on The Principle of Population (1798)
The first business of philosophy is to account for things as they are; and till our theories will do this, they ought not to be the ground of any practical conclusion.
Principles of Political Economy (1836)
It is a mere futile process to exchange one set of commodities for another, if the parties; after this new distribution of goods has taken place, are not better off than they were before.
Principles of Political Economy (1836)
It is also very important to observe, that menial servants are absolutely necessary to make the resources of the higher and middle classes of society efficient in the demand for material products.
Principles of Political Economy (1836)
Though I may not be able to in the present instance to mark the limit at which further improvement will stop, I can very easily mention a point at which it will not arrive.
An Essay on The Principle of Population (1798)
I feel no doubt whatever that the parish laws of England have contributed to raise the price of provisions and to lower the real price of labour.
An Essay on The Principle of Population (1798)
Every endeavor should be used to weaken and destroy all those institutions relating to corporations, apprenticeships, &c, which cause the labours of agriculture to be worse paid than the labours of trade and manufactures.
An Essay on The Principle of Population (1798)
The question is, what is saving?
Principles of Political Economy (1836)
The moon is not kept in her orbit round the earth, nor the earth in her orbit round the sun, by a force that varies merely in the inverse ratio of the squares of the distances.
An Essay on The Principle of Population (1798)
The science of political economy is essentially practical, and applicable to the common business of human life. There are few branches of human knowledge where false views may do more harm, or just views more good.
Principles of Political Economy (1836)
To remedy the frequent distresses of the common people, the poor laws of England have been instituted; but it is to be feared that though they may have alleviated a little the intensity of individual misfortune, they have spread the general evil over a much larger surface.
An Essay on The Principle of Population (1798)
...where are we to look for the consumption required but among the unproductive labourers of Adam Smith?...
Principles of Political Economy (1836)
The main peculiarity which distinguishes man from other animals, is the means of his support, is the power which he possesses of very greatly increasing these means.
Essay on the Principle of Population (1798)
The perpetual tendency of the race of man to increase beyond the means of subsistence is one of the general laws of animated nature, which we can have no reason to expect to change.
Essay on the Principle of Population (1798)
There must therefore be a considerable class of persons who have both the will and power to consume more material wealth than they produce, or the mercantile classes could not continue profitably to produce so much more than they consume.
Principles of Political Economy (1836)
The transfer of three shillings and sixpence a day to every labourer would not increase the quantity of meat in the country. There is not at present enough for all to have a decent share. What would then be the consequence?
An Essay on The Principle of Population (1798)
Thirty or forty proprietors, with incomes answering to between one thousand and five thousand a year, would create a much more effectual demand for the necessaries, conveniences, and luxuries of life, than a single proprietor possessing a hundred thousand a year.
Principles of Political Economy (1836)
The germs of existence contained in this spot of earth, with ample food, and ample room to expand in, would fill millions of worlds in the course of a few thousand years.
Essay on the Principle of Population (1798)