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There is no such thing as absolute cost of labour; it is all a matter of comparison. Every one gets the most which he can for his exertions; some can get little or nothing, because they have not sufficient strength, knowledge or ingenuity; others get much, because they have, comparatively speaking, a monopoly of certain powers.

— William Stanley Jevons The Theory of Political Economy (1871)

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More quotes by William Stanley Jevons

The calculus of utility aims at supplying the ordinary wants of man at the least cost of labour.

The Theory of Political Economy (1871)

Repeated reflection and inquiry have led me to the somewhat novel opinion, that value depends entirely upon utility.

The Theory of Political Economy (1871)

I shall endeavor to show that induction is really the inverse process of deduction.

The Principles of Science: A Treatise on Logic and Scientific Method (1874)

Our English economists have been living in a fool's paradise.

The Theory of Political Economy (1871)

Value is the most invisible and impalpable of ghosts, and comes and goes unthought of while the visible and dense matter remains as it was.

Investigations in Currency and Finance (1884)

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