When Hume and Adam Smith prophesied that a little increase of national debt beyond the then amount of it, would probably occasion bankruptcy; the main cause of their error was the natural one, of not being able to see the vast increase of productive power to which the nation would subsequently obtain.
Thomas MalthusIt is an acknowledged truth in philosophy that a just theory will always be confirmed by experiment.
Thomas MalthusThe germs of existence contained in this spot of earth, with ample food, and ample room to expand in, would fill millions of worlds in the course of a few thousand years.
Thomas MalthusThe constant effort towards population, which is found even in the most vicious societies, increases the number of people before the means of subsistence are increased.
Thomas Malthus[P]opulation, when unchecked, goes on doubling itself every twenty-five years, or increases in a geometrical ratio. ... [T]he means of subsistence, under circumstances the most favorable to human industry, could not possibly be made to increase faster than in an arithmetical ratio.
Thomas Malthus