It appears to me, that any explanation of the cheapness of manufactured articles, as consequent upon the division of labour, would be incomplete if the following principle were omitted to be stated.

Another quote →

Source, in full

That the master manufacturer, by dividing the work to be executed into different processes, each requiring different degrees of skill or of force, can purchase exactly that precise quantity of both which is necessary for each process; whereas, if the whole work were executed by one workman, that person must possess sufficient skill to perform the most difficult, and sufficient strength to execute the most laborious, of the operations into which the art is divided.

Notes from Wikiquote

p. 175-6

More quotes by Charles Babbage

All Charles Babbage quotes →

Attribution

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