The expenses of government, having for their object the interest of all, should be borne by everyone, and the more a man enjoys the advantages of society, the more he ought to hold himself honored in contributing to those expenses.

It is not error which opposes the progress of truth; it is indolence, obstinacy, the spirit of routine, every thing which favors inaction.

All merchandize has the two essential properties of money, to measure and to represent all value: and in this sense all merchandize is money.

What I admire in Columbus is not his having discovered a new world but his having gone to search for it on the faith of an opinion.

All money is essentially merchandize.

Gold and silver are constituted, by the nature of things, money, and universal money, independent of all convention, and of all laws.

The earth has been cultivated before it has been divided; the cultivation itself having been the only motive for a division, and for that law which secures to every one his property. For the first persons who have employed themselves in cultivation, have probably worked as much land as their strength would permit, and, consequently, more than was necessary for their own nourishment.