"No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable."
"Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice: all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things."
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Source: Adam Smith, comte Germain Garnier, Dugald Stewart (1835). “An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, p.96
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"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."
"The first thing you have to know is yourself. A man who knows himself can step outside himself and watch his own reactions like an observer."
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