Resentment seems to have been given us by nature for a defense, and for a defense only! It is the safeguard of justice and the security of innocence.
Adam SmithRead
No complaint... is more common than that of a scarcity of money.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People often complain about not having enough money, reflecting a common struggle in society.
Adam Smith highlights a universal issue that transcends time, where the lack of money is a frequent source of dissatisfaction among individuals. This scarcity function serves as a critical commentary on economic conditions, personal priorities, and social structures that shape our attitudes towards wealth and resources, emphasizing how financial concerns dominate human experiences.
Themes
MoneyScarcityComplaintEconomicsSociety
In practice
Example use cases
During a financial seminar, one could use this quote to discuss common financial challenges.
More from Adam Smith
All quotes βIt is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.
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Wherever there is great property, there is great inequality.
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This is one of those cases in which the imagination is baffled by the facts.
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The real and effectual discipline which is exercised over a workman is that of his customers. It is the fear of losing their employment which restrains his frauds and corrects his negligence.
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Defense is superior to opulence.
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Similar quotes
Adam Smith's 'invisible hand' is not above sudden, disturbing, movements. Since its inception, capitalism has known slumps and recessions, bubble and froth; no one has yet dis-invented the business cycle, and probably no one will; and what Schumpeter famously called the 'gales of creative destruction' still roar mightily from time to time. To lament these things is ultimately to lament the bracing blast of freedom itself.
Margaret ThatcherRead
No pecuniary consideration is more urgent, than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt: on none can delay be more injurious, or an economy of time more valuable.
George WashingtonRead
Customers often value a good more when its price goes up. One reason may be its signaling value. An expensive handcrafted mechanical watch may tell time no more accurately than a cheap quartz model; but, because few people can afford one, buying it signals that the owner is rich.
Raghuram RajanRead
Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.
Ronald ReaganRead
The unions might be good for the people who are in the unions but it doesn't do a thing for the people who are unemployed. Because the union keeps down the number of jobs, it doesn't do a thing for them.
Milton FriedmanRead
While it won't solve all the world's ills - and ideas such as a rent cap and more social housing are necessary in places where housing is scarce - a basic income would work like venture capital for the people.
Rutger BregmanRead