Upstart Greatness Is Everywhere Less Respected Than

To Subject Every Private Family To The Odious Visits And Examination Of The Tax-gatherers ... Would Be Altogether Inconsistent With Liberty.

By Pursuing His Own Interest (the Individual) Frequently Promotes That Of The Society More Effectually Than When He Really Intends To Promote It. I Have Never Known Much Good Done By Those Who Affected To Trade For The Public Good.

Wherever There Is Great Property There Is Great Inequality. For One Very Rich Man There Must Be At Least Five Hundred Poor, And The Affluence Of The Few Supposes The Indigence Of The Many. The Affluence Of The Rich Excites The Indignation Of The Poor, Who Are Often Both Driven By Want, And Prompted By Envy, To Invade His Possessions.

The Natural Effort Of Every Individual To Better His Own Condition Is So Powerful That It Is Alone, And Without Any Assistance, Capable Not Only Of Carrying On The Society To Wealth And Prosperity, But Of Surmounting 100 Impertinent Obstructions With Which The Folly Of Human Laws Too Often Encumbers Its Operations.

The Emotions Of The Spectator Will Still Be Very Apt To Fall Short Of The Violence Of What Is Felt By The Sufferer. Mankind, Though Naturally Sympathetic, Never Conceive, For What Has Befallen Another, That Degree Of Passion Which Naturally Animates The Person Principally Concerned.