"No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable."
"The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition is so powerful that it is alone, and without any assistance, capable not only of carrying on the society to wealth and prosperity, but of surmounting 100 impertinent obstructions with which the folly of human laws too often encumbers its operations."
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Source: The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, (Introduction and Plan of the Work, p. 2), 1776.
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