David Ricardo

"The rise or fall of profits is the thermometer by which the rise or fall of wages is to be measured."

"Labor, like all other things which are purchased and sold, and which may be increased or diminished in quantity, has its natural and its market price."

"Political economy you think is an enquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. It is no such thing."

"Rent is that portion of the produce of the earth which is paid to the landlord for the use of the original and indestructible powers of the soil."

"The principle of gravitation is not more certain than the tendency of such circumstances to augment the facilities of production."

"The real price of a commodity is the quantity of labour required to produce it."

"Taxes are paid out of the produce of the earth, produced on, it, or produced elsewhere and sent to it in exchange for its produce."

"A nation is rich when its labour is productive, and poor when it is unproductive."

"It is the comparative, not the positive, advantages which nations should endeavor to secure by the extension of trade."

"The opinion that the quantity of capital determines the amount of industry is most assuredly correct."

"As the society advances, the standard of wages naturally falls, though the money price of labor may rise."

"Demand and supply regulate price, as they regulate all other commodities."

"The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition is so powerful that it is alone sufficient to carry on the society to wealth and prosperity."

"Capital is that part of the wealth of a country which is employed in production, and consists of food, clothing, tools, raw materials, machinery, etc."

"Wages depend on the demand and supply of labor, and the condition of the working classes depends upon the rate of wages."

"The price of corn regulates the price of labour, and labour regulates the price of all other things."

"Under a system of perfectly free commerce, each country naturally devotes its capital and labour to such employments as are most beneficial to each."

"It is the comparative advantages that matter in trade, not absolute advantages."

"The great principle of supply and demand is the regulator of all prices."

"Utility is not the measure of exchangeable value, although it is absolutely essential to it."

"The farmer and manufacturer can no more live without profit than the laborer without wages."

"Distribution of wealth among the different classes of society is the principal problem of political economy."

"Capital accumulation is the process by which wealth is created in society."

"The landlord is interested in the rise of rents, the farmer in the rise of produce, and the manufacturer and merchant in the rise of profits."

"An economic system cannot survive if individuals lack the incentive to work and accumulate capital."

"The quantity of labor bestowed on the production of any commodity regulates the quantity of other commodities for which it will exchange."

"Perfectibility is one of the most unequivocal characteristics of the human species."

"A country may not owe the whole of its improvements to a single cause, but to a combination of causes."

"The discovery of machinery, though it is unquestionably beneficial to society at large, is not beneficial to all classes of society."

"The principle of population is constant, but its manifestations vary with circumstances."