Adam Smith

"The real satisfaction of a man of correct moral sentiments is in being worthy of approbation."

"Men are much more likely to discover and invent expedients for attaining any object they already desire, than to discover and invent objects for enjoying the fruits of expedients already in their possession."

"Every man naturally loves what bears resemblance to his own character; his own sentiments and qualities are always pleasing to him."

"The regard which he is naturally disposed to pay to the opinions and feelings of others, is evidently a selfish regard to some extent."

"A man of real wisdom can never be willing to subscribe to systems which appear to him inconsistent and contradictory."

"The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life, seems to arise from over-rating the difference between one permanent situation and another."

"We must not expect to change the sentiments of men, unless we properly address ourselves to those sentiments."

"The interest of the manufacturer is always in some respects different from, and even opposite to, that of the public."

"To expect that the freedom of trade should ever be entirely restored in Great Britain is as absurd as to expect that an Oceana or Utopia should ever be established in it."

"Self-command is not only itself a great virtue, but from it all other virtues seem to derive their principal lustre."

"The perfection of human nature is the chief object of all the moral virtues."

"There is something flattering in the notion that I myself am of some importance; the opinion of others becomes, therefore, important to me, so far as it affects this importance."

"The most generous action may have been prompted by the most sordid and selfish motive."

"When we approve of any character or action, the sentiments which we approve of are, in the instant of approbation, the same as those of the character or action approved of."

"A merchant is not necessarily an evil character by reason of his love of profit."

"The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition is a principle of preservation capable of preventing and correcting, in many respects, the abuses of the monopoly."

"The wages of labour vary with the ease or hardship, the cleanliness or dirtiness, the honourableness or dishonourableness of the employment."

"No one can be much pleased whose conduct has been very faulty, and who can rather suspect than believe that he is approved of."

"In the midst of the misery and ruin which covered all Asia, the empire of the Caliphs was still great and formidable."

"The real tragedy of life is not that man fails, but that he never attempts."

"A person becomes a coward when he is not prepared to face the consequences of his own convictions."

"Wonder and surprise are like two powers of the human mind that delight in novelty."

"The regard which the wise man is inclined to pay to the opinions of the foolish is often the source of great wisdom."

"Gratitude is not only a good quality, but it is a virtuous sentiment that every honorable man should cultivate."

"The spirit of the people is sometimes against the practice of justice."

"The theory that our sentiments are all derived from sympathy must necessarily be imperfect."

"Every man is in some measure a merchant; every man exchanges his labor or goods for money or other goods."

"The great wheel of society rolls along; we are but small parts of this immense machinery."

"Not all philosophers are obliged to live like philosophers."

"The market will regulate itself if you do not meddle with it too much."