David Ricardo

"The real price of everything that is, what every thing really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it."

"Labour is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities."

"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 natural effort of every individual to better his own condition has not only been capable of carrying on the society to wealth and prosperity, but is the sole cause of its progress."

"There is no way of keeping profits up but by keeping wages down."

"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."

"The rise of wages does not necessarily lead to the fall of profits, but merely to the redistribution of wealth."

"Improvements in machinery often throw labourers out of employment and reduce wages."

"The principles which regulate the rise and fall of wages are of the utmost importance to those who are interested in the wellbeing of the masses."

"Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio, while the means of subsistence can only increase in an arithmetical ratio."

"The value of a commodity is determined by the quantity of labour required to produce it."

"Demand and supply regulate price, but only labour determines value."

"A man may too exert himself, and by so doing may injure his health or reduce his means of subsistence."

"Wealth consists not in money, but in the things which money purchases."

"The most productive system of economy is that which is least burdensome to those who create wealth."

"Trade between nations, like trade between individuals, is beneficial to all parties."

"Restrictions on commerce are restrictions on freedom itself."

"The natural price of labour is that price which is necessary to enable the labourers to subsist and perpetuate their race."

"Every increase in the real capital of a country tends to increase the productive power of its labour."

"The division of labour is the great source of human productive capacity."

"Rent arises not from the absolute power of the earth to produce, but from its relative power."

"A nation's wealth is best measured not by its gold reserves, but by its productive capacity."

"The accumulation of capital is the foundation of all industrial progress."

"Comparative advantage makes trade beneficial even when one party is more efficient in all activities."

"Price is the regulator of supply and demand, not the measure of value."

"The interest of the landlord is always opposed to the interests of every other class in the community."

"The tendency of profits to decline is a fundamental law of political economy."

"Agriculture must be improved before manufactures can prosper in any country."

"The poorest labourer is a consumer, and therefore a beneficial member of society."

"The substitution of machinery for manual labour is inevitable in an advancing economy."