The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

As respects the great contrivances and inventions which have conferred so much power and
wealth upon the nation, it is unquestionable that for the greater part of them we have been
indebted to men of the humblest rank. Deduct what they have done in this particular line of
action, and it will be found that very little indeed remains for other men to have accomplished.
‘Self-Help’ (1859)
The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual.
‘Self-Help’ (1859)
7.106 Adam Smith 1723-90
Wonder...and not any expectation of advantage from its discoveries, is the first principle which
prompts mankind to the study of Philosophy, of that science which pretends to lay open the
concealed connections that unite the various appearances of nature.
‘Essays on Philosophical Subjects’ (1795) ‘The History of Astronomy’ sect. 3, para. 3
And thus, Place, that great object which divides the wives of aldermen, is the end of half the
labours of human life; and is the cause of all the tumult and bustle, all the rapine and injustice,
which avarice and ambition have introduced into this world.
‘The Theory of Moral Sentiments’ 1, 3, 2, 8
Though our brother is on the rack, as long as we ourselves are at our ease, our senses will
never inform us of what he suffers...It is by imagination that we can form any conception of what
are his sensations.
‘The Theory of Moral Sentiments’ (2nd ed., 1762) p. 2
Consumption is the sole end and purpose of production; and the interest of the producer ought
to be attended to only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer.
‘Wealth of Nations’ (1776) bk. 4, ch. 8
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.
‘Wealth of Nations’ (1776)
With the greater part of rich people, the chief enjoyment of riches consists in the parade of
riches, which in their eyes is never so complete as when they appear to possess those decisive
marks of opulence which nobody can possess but themselves.
‘Wealth of Nations’ (1776)
To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first
sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit
for a nation of shopkeepers; but extremely fit for a nation whose government is influenced by
shopkeepers.
‘Wealth of Nations’ (1776).
The discipline of colleges and universities is in general contrived, not for the benefit of the
students, but for the interest, or more properly speaking, for the ease of the masters.
‘Wealth of Nations’ (1776)
There is no art which one government sooner learns of another than that of draining money