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It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.

— Adam Smith The Wealth of Nations (1776)

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Capitalism

More quotes by Adam Smith

Nothing but the most exemplary morals can give dignity to a man of small fortune.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

A merchant, it has been said very properly, is not necessarily the citizen of any particular country.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

No fixed capital can yield any revenue but by means of a circulating capital.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

In the long-run the workman may be as necessary to his master as his master is to him, but the necessity is not so immediate.

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

Hatred and anger are the greatest poison to the happiness of a good mind.

The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)

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I have no doubt that the revolution will triumph. The people of the world will prevail, seize power, seize the means of production, wipe out racism, capitalism.

Huey P. Newton Revolutionary Suicide (1973)

The most obvious negative feature of capitalism is that it can produce private monopolies that restrict output and thereby harm consumers.

Dennis Mueller The Oxford Handbook of Capitalism (2012)

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.

Winston Churchill

Capitalism has neither the capacity, nor the moral, nor the ethics, nor the will to solve the problems of poverty.

Fidel Castro

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Adam Smith (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.