Memorable Quotations from Adam Smith

Adam Smith (1723-90) was a Scottish economist and founder of the classical school of economics. As professor of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow, he wrote his Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), which drew international interest. In the 1760s he journeyed in France, met some of the physiocrats, and started to write his masterpiece, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, published in 1776. Smith advanced the theory of the division of labor and stressed that value arises from the labor used in production. He thought that in a laissez faire economy the bent of self-interest would bring about the public welfare. Although opposed to monopoly and the ideas of mercantilism, he acknowledged that restrictions on free trade were occasionally necessary. Although some of Smith's theories were rejected by the experience of the Industrial Revolution, his impact on later economists has never been bested.