Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow-citizens.
Adam SmithGood roads, canals, and navigable rivers, by diminishing the expence of carriage, put the remote parts of the country more nearly upon a level with with those of the neighbourhood of the town. They are upon that the greatest of all improvements.
Adam SmithMasters are always and everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform combination, not to raise the wages of labor.
Adam SmithLittle 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.
Adam Smith