Adam Smith

"Real magnanimity consists, not in acquiring virtue, but in abstaining from vice."

"The security and happiness of mankind seem to require that certain moral sentiments should be formed and cultivated."

"Education forms the common people; institutions form the superior ranks."

"The division of labor, so far as it can be introduced, occasions, in every art, a proportionable increase of the productive powers of labor."

"Every system of education which aims at forming the mind must have beauty as one of its principal objects."

"A nation is not made wealthy by the morality of its people, but by the extent of its commerce."

"The most essential virtue in the character of a statesman is moderation."

"Freedom of thought and expression is the most essential condition of human progress."

"The perfection of machinery is not to be found in its complexity, but in its simplicity."

"Empathy is not a soft skill; it is the hard foundation of all human cooperation."

"The love of praise and the fear of blame are principles of action which every man feels more or less."

"The best judgment is often formed in solitude and executed in society."

"A merchant does not deal in wares, but in the trust of his fellows."

"The sentiment of esteem is derived from the apprehension of utility and the sense of dignity united."

"All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, is, at any time of life, a despicable maxim."

"The greatest advancement of any society lies in the freedom of exchange."

"To expect honesty from those who traffic in dishonor is like expecting wheat from a field sown with tares."

"The order and harmony of a family depends chiefly upon the virtue and prudence of the eldest female."

"Every revolution in society carries within it both the seeds of its own destruction and renewal."

"The sentiment of duty operates most powerfully when we least expect it."

"A man without passion is like a body without a soul."

"The prosperity of a people depends not upon wealth, but upon the character of the people."

"In the midst of the greatest grandeur, there is always a moment of truth."

"The judgment of the multitude is often false, but it is never long false."

"Every man has a right to dispose of his own property as he sees fit, provided he violates no justice."

"The great multiplication of the productions of all different arts occasions universal opulence."

"The desire of being believed, the desire of being approved, are some of the strongest desires of human nature."

"The man who is too much in the clouds is often useless to those on earth."

"History records that wherever there has been a monopoly, there has also been corruption and disorder."

"The faculty of attention is in itself a considerable virtue."