It Must Always Be Remembered, However, That

The Interest Of [businessmen] Is Always In Some Respects Different From, And Even Opposite To, That Of The Public ... The Proposal Of Any New Law Or Regulation Of Commerce Which Comes From This Order ... Ought Never To Be Adopted, Till After Having Been Long And Carefully Examined ... With The Most Suspicious Attention. It Comes From An Order Of Men ... Who Have Generally An Interest To Deceive And Even Oppress The Public.

What Is Prudence In The Conduct Of Every Private Family Can Scarce Be Folly In That Of A Great Kingdom.

Every Tax, However, Is To The Person Who Pays It A Badge, Not Of Slavery But Of Liberty. It Denotes That He Is A Subject To Government, Indeed, But That, As He Has Some Property, He Cannot Himself Be The Property Of A Master.

An Instructed And Intelligent People Are Always More Decent And Orderly Than An Ignorant And Stupid One.

People Of The Same Trade Seldom Meet Together, Even For Merriment And Diversion, But The Conversation Ends In A Conspiracy Against The Public, Or In Some Contrivance To Raise Prices. It Is Impossible Indeed To Prevent Such Meetings, By Any Law Which Either Could Be Executed, Or Would Be Consistent With Liberty Or Justice. But Though The Law Cannot Hinder People Of The Same Trade From Sometimes Assembling Together, It Ought To Do Nothing To Facilitate Such Assemblies; Much Less To Render Them Necessary.