A merchant, it has been said very properly, is not necessarily the citizen of any particular country.

By nature a philosopher is not in genius and disposition half so different from a street porter, as a mastiff is from a greyhound

Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production.

The subjects of every state ought to contribute toward the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state ....As Henry Home (Lord Kames) has written, a goal of taxation should be to 'remedy inequality of riches as much as possible, by relieving the poor and burdening the rich.'

The proprietor of stock is necessarily a citizen of the world, and is not necessarily attached to any particular country.

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.

Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.