36 quotes
Scottish moral philosopher and political economist (1723–1790)
“It 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.”
"In the common degree of the moral, there is no virtue. Virtue is excellence."
on Ethics
"Virtue is excellence, something uncommonly great and beautiful, which rises far above what is vulgar and ordinary."
"Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition."
on Science
"All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind."
on Economy
"Marriage should liberate, not incarcerate. Real love shouldn't limit a person's potential, it should expand it."
on Love
"Abandon the idea that you will forever be the victim of the things that have happened to you. Choose to be a victor."
on Inspirational
"What can be added to the happiness of man who is in health out of debt and has a clear conscience?"
on Happiness
"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."
on Justice
"The propensity to truck, barter and exchange one thing for another is common to all men, and to be found in no other race of animals."
"No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable."
on Society
"There is a great deal of ruin in a nation."
"I believe each of us is a pilgrim in our own way; we are all lost souls, trying to find our way home."
on Life
"Life is not trying to entertain us, it's trying to teach us."
on Learning
"Fear is destructive and defeating, but faith is constructive and creative."
on Fear
"Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience."
"We may not be able to control what happens to us, but we can always control how we react."
on Resilience
"What is prudence in the conduct of every private family can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom."
on Politics
"Faith is believing in something you cannot prove for certain."
on Faith
"Always go as far as you can see, then let faith take you the rest of the way."
"You are worth infinitely more than you could possibly imagine."
