Adam. Smith: Man is by nature, and always will be, a selfish animal

Adam · Smith (5 June 1723 – 17 July 1790): Born in Scotland. United Kingdom economist and philosopher, the main founder of modern economics. Adam · Smith emphasized free markets, free trade, and the division of labor, and was known as the "father of classical economics" and "the father of modern economics." His book, The Wealth of Nations, is a must-read for economics students.

1. Man is by nature, and always will be, a selfish animal.

2. What are we doing in this world and going back and forth for? What is the purpose of all this greed and lust, all this quest for wealth, power and fame? At the end of the day, it's about getting the love and approval of others.

3. We will often find that people in this world who have great humanity but lack self-control are lazy, hesitant and easily depressed in the pursuit of the highest honors when they encounter difficulties and dangers.

On the contrary, we often find people who are able to exercise perfect self-control, where no difficulty can frighten their courage and no danger can frighten them, but at the same time they seem indifferent to the whole feeling of justice or humanity.

4. Never beg for mercy from others, but appeal to their self-interest; Never talk to others about your own needs, but only about what is good for them.

5. We do not get dinner by the good deeds of butchers, brewers or bakers, but by their self-interest.

6. It is human nature to pursue personal gain.

7. The tendency of exchange is motivated by self-interest and gives rise to a division of labour.

8. There is a sense of satisfaction in being loved by a man of a delicate mind and a keen sense of pleasure that brings him more than all that he might expect from being loved.

9. Wealth is the power to exchange labor.

10. To achieve peace of mind, one must be "in good health, free from debt, and have a clear conscience." If these conditions can be met, then the increase in wealth will be superfluous.

11. Everyone constantly strives to find the most advantageous use of the capital at their disposal. Of course, he had his own interests in mind.

But his concern for his own interests will, or rather, inevitably lead him to favor the most socially beneficial uses. It's like "there is an invisible hand" guiding him to try to achieve a goal that he doesn't want to achieve.

12. We must be restrained when we talk about ourselves. We can't expect our fellow to be as interested in all these things as we are to ourselves. An important obstacle to human interaction is the lack of such moderation on the part of many people.

13. Fallacies with elements of truth are the most dangerous.

14. No matter how selfish someone is, there is always a nature of pity or sympathy for that person. He is happy when he sees others happy, even if he himself actually has nothing to gain. This nature led him to care about the fate of others and to see the happiness of others as his own business.

Sympathy is not reserved for the noble, even for the most cruel villains, even for serious violations of the laws of society.

15. Vanity is always based on our belief that we are noticed and praised.

16. The monarchs of the world were greedy and selfish, and they deceived their subjects by diminishing the true weight of the metal that the currency contained in the first place.

17. In competition, individual ambitions tend to advance the public good.

18. Hierarchical differences and social order are based on people's tendency to sympathize with and conform to the feelings of the rich and the powerful.

19. Kindness is like an ornament that beautifies a building, not a foundation that supports it. Therefore, it is enough to call on people to practice kindness, and there is no need to impose it on others.

On the contrary, justice is like the central pillar that supports the entire edifice, and if this pillar is shaken, then the grand and majestic structure of human society will surely collapse in the blink of an eye. Therefore, justice must be enforced by coercion.

20. What is a good economic system, a good economic system is a system that encourages everyone to create wealth.

21. If the fruits of a society's development do not flow adequately into the hands of the masses, it will be morally unpopular and risky, as it is destined to threaten the stability of the society.

22. The wealth of a country does not lie in the amount of money, but in the abundance of the necessities of life.

23. For us, it makes us happy to see the same feelings of others, and it shocks us to find that others do not feel the same way as we do at all.

24. As long as it does not violate the laws of justice, then everyone has complete freedom to pursue his own interests in his own way.

25. With a peaceful, low-tax, and tolerant judiciary, a country needs nothing else to achieve the highest level of wealth.

26. Depriving us of what we already have is worse than depriving us of what we deserve. Therefore, trespassing on property is a greater sin than simply tearing up a contract.

27. When a person has made a difference and received a reward, he is concerned not only with the absolute amount of his reward, but also with the relative amount of his reward.

Therefore, he has to make various comparisons to determine whether the remuneration he receives is reasonable, and the results of the comparison will directly affect the motivation of future work.

28. To make a correct judgment about a country, we must compare two periods of the same country that are very far apart.

Progress is slow, the times are too near, not only do we not see its improvement, but sometimes, even if the country is improved, we often suspect that the wealth and industry of the whole country are regressing because we see the withering of a certain industry or the decline of a place.

29. Just because we agree with someone else's emotions doesn't mean that we have to be exactly the same as them.

30. In the vast majority of cases, pure justice is only a negative virtue that only prevents us from harming our neighbors. There is really only one merit in a person who refrains from encroaching on the person, property, or reputation of his neighbor. However, he has fulfilled all the rules called justice.