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Adam Smith

Scottish economist who advocated private enterprise and free trade (1723-1790)

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A person who can acquire no property, can have no other interest but to eat as much, and to labour as little as possible. Whatever work he does beyond what is sufficient to purchase his own maintenance can be squeezed out of him by violence only, and not by any interest of his own.

– Adam Smith

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By pursuing his own interest (every 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.

– Adam Smith

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Every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest his own way, and to bring both his industry and capital into competition with those of any other man or order of men.

– Adam Smith

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Happiness never lays its finger on its pulse.

– Adam Smith

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Humanity is the virtue of a woman, generosity that of a man.

– Adam Smith

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It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own neccessities but of their advantages.

– Adam Smith

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Man, an animal that makes bargains.

– Adam Smith

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No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.

– Adam Smith

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On the road from the City of Skepticism, I had to pass through the Valley of Ambiguity. (Powers of Mind, 1975)

– Adam Smith

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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.

– Adam Smith

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Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.

– Adam Smith

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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.

– Adam Smith

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The difference of natural talents in different men is, in reality, much less than we are aware of; and the very different genius which appears to distinguish men of different professions, when grown up to maturity, is not upon many occasions so much the cause as the effect of the division of labour. The difference between the most dissimilar characters, between a philosopher and a common street porter, for example, seems to arise not so much from nature as from habit, custom, and education. When they came into the world, and for the first six or eight years of their existence, they were perhaps very much alike, and neither their parents nor playfellows could perceive any remarkable difference...

– Adam Smith

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The man whose whole life is spent in performing a few simple operations, of which the effects are perhaps always the same, or very nearly the same, has no occasion to exert his understanding or to exercise his invention in finding out expedients for removing difficulties which never occur. He naturally loses, therefore, the habit of such exertion, and generally becomes as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human creature to become.

– Adam Smith

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The mind is so rarely disturbed, but that the company of friend will restore it to some degree of tranquility and sedateness.

– Adam Smith

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The proposal of any new law or regulation which comes from [businessmen], ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention. It comes from an order of men, whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it.

– Adam Smith

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The real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.

– Adam Smith

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The robot is going to lose. Not by much. But when the final score is tallied, flesh and blood is going to beat the damn monster.

– Adam Smith

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The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities...

– Adam Smith

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The uniform, constant, and uninterrupted effort of every man to better his condition... is frequently powerful enough to maintain the natural progress of things toward improvement, in spite of the extravagance of government, and of the greatest errors of administration.

– Adam Smith

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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 that is governed by shopkeepers.

– Adam Smith

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Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.

– Adam Smith

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What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?

– Adam Smith

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With the great part of rich people, the chief employment of riches consists in the parade of riches.

– Adam Smith

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Quotes from the news wire:

I support the decision to appoint a special counsel, properly handling classified information is crucial to national security. Any time classified material is found where it is not supposed to be, The Justice Department must do a thorough investigation.

– Adam Smith

Found on FOX News 1 year ago

Climate change is intensifying many of these extremes that lead to billion-dollar disasters.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 1 year ago

We’re talking big money here and it’s consistent, this is another trend where the cost and the impacts are quite large and so we need to think about how to better mitigate future damages because we know these extremes will continue to happen.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 1 year ago

Time is of the essence, because all of these extremes, impacts, disasters, and fatalities have happened, there’s so many different lessons across many parts of the country, for many different disaster types and many different populations that we can start to implement. And sooner is certainly better.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 1 year ago

We’re still calculating the cost of that event, which was so late in the year, but it’s clearly a several billion-dollar event and will actually add to the total we already have of $165 billion, so the total of 2022 will actually exceed $165 once we add the Christmas, winter storm impacts on top of that number.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 1 year ago

I think we can do both. That's what the budget debate and the defense strategy debate is going to be about, i think it's pretty clear that we're ready for a more robust force posture in Eastern Europe with our NATO partners, without question.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 2 years ago

What's concerning about National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is it's yet another year in a series of years where we have both a high frequency, high cost and a large diversity of these extreme events that affect people's lives and livelihoods, over the last five years, the United States has experienced almost $ 750 billion of damages from these billion-dollar disasters, which is really off the charts.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 2 years ago

The third most costly disaster in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was the Western wildfires, in excess of $ 10 billion, and with these late-year events, like what happened in Colorado, we'll probably have to up that even further in our first-quarter analysis this spring.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 2 years ago

The Taliban can not be trusted. I mean even The Taliban can't control the The Taliban, and they certainly can't control ISIS-K, as we learned a few days ago.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 2 years ago

As I have said, the scourge of sexual assault in our military must come to an end, and after years of trying and failing to address the problem the time has come to remove the prosecution of sexual assault crimes from the chain of command.

– Adam Smith

Found on FOX News 2 years ago

I also strongly believe it is critically important that Secretary-designate Austin be confirmed as quickly as possible after President-elect Biden becomes President on January 20th.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 3 years ago

If we don't stand up for ourselves now, we're going to be rolled over countlessly.

– Adam Smith

Found on FOX News 3 years ago

I talked to( James Mattis), and James Mattis said James Mattis was perfectly willing to come before the House Armed Services Committee and talk to us, but the President Donald Trump administration said' no.' So James Mattis didn't. House Armed Services Committee's House Armed Services Committee, the Joe Biden people have told me that The Biden people're willing to let Joe Biden.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 3 years ago

I talked to( James Mattis), and he said he was perfectly willing to come before the House Armed Services Committee and talk to us, but the President Donald Trump administration said' no.' So he didn't. That's the big difference, the Biden people have told me that The Biden people're willing to let him.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 3 years ago

There really are no other possibilities. If the president vetoes it, we will come back and vote to override.

– Adam Smith

Found on Reuters 3 years ago

I certainly communicated to the Biden people that I think Michele Flournoy is hands down the best qualified person for the job, that does not mean that Michele Flournoy's the only person that could do the job.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 3 years ago

For me, the path is clear. There's not a single member of this Congress who can't vote for this bill in good conscience and feel good about it in my humble opinion. So we should pass it.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 3 years ago

If the President vetoes it, yes, we will come back and vote to override.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 3 years ago

The President has raised an issue that's not directly related to the NDAA there's simply no reason. I mean, he may as well veto every single bill that ever gets passed because it didn't have something in it that you want.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 3 years ago

I certainly communicated to the Bidens Secretary of Defense nominee people that I think Michele Flournoy is hands down the best qualified person for the job, that does not mean that Michele Flournoy's the only person that could do the job.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 3 years ago

The last thing we want is to have another 2017 or 2018 type of year in the fall, where we have these historically damaging and costly hurricanes and wildfires. And there is potential for that.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 3 years ago

The big story is the fact that we haven't even gotten to the hyperactive hurricane season, which is widely predicted in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Ocean states, we also haven't gotten to the wildfire season out West. For California, particularly Northern California, Oregon and Washington, the wildfire season could be another strong season.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 3 years ago

At a time when our nation is hurting the President continues to forgo any effort to calm tensions, as we had all hoped he would. Instead he used force to remove peaceful protesters to stage a photo opportunity. Instead of taking a moment of silence in front of the historic St Johns' Episcopal Church to pray for the lives lost he gathered his cronies to take a picture. Instead of doing the right thing, he once again did the absolute wrong thing, i have serious concerns about using military forces to respond to protestors. The role of the U.S. military in domestic U.S. law enforcement is limited by law. It must not be used in violation of those limits and I see little evidence that President Trump understands this fundamental premise.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 3 years ago

I remain gravely concerned about President Trump's seemingly autocratic rule and how it affects the judgment of our military leadership, the fate of our democracy depends on how we navigate this time of crisis.

– Adam Smith

Found on Reuters 3 years ago

During this time of crisis, Captain Crozier is exactly what our Sailors need: a leader who inspires confidence.

– Adam Smith

Found on Reuters 3 years ago

When I listened to the speech that Navy Secretary Thomas Modly gave -- Navy Secretary Thomas Modly was trying to do a half a -- ed attempt at a speech that Trump would have given, hes trying to figure out what would the narcissist do -- people are trying to figure out how to lead when their example is someone who is not competent orcapable.

– Adam Smith

Found on FOX News 4 years ago

I am proud that this bill will change the lives of millions by providing paid parental leave.

– Adam Smith

Found on Reuters 4 years ago

This was not an easy process. This is an incredibly important piece of legislation.

– Adam Smith

Found on Reuters 4 years ago

I was able to get them to enthusiastically support the largest expansion of the social welfare state since the Affordable Care Act -- the widows tax and paid parental leave, that was an enormous accomplishment, OK? I got them to do things that they never wanted to do.

– Adam Smith

Found on FOX News 4 years ago

I actually don't think this could make things worse, but ... there's still more that needs to be released about how this will work and what the risks are if you get it wrong.

– Adam Smith

Found on Reuters 4 years ago

I appreciate the questions, but we're not going to tell you how we're going to have an outcome here at this press conference.

– Adam Smith

Found on Reuters 4 years ago

All she told me was' my first born Jennifer would have been 21 years old today,'.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 4 years ago

From what I could see the skin and everything was intact.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 4 years ago

I still believed the box contained a wedding cake topper. That's just what I assumed.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 4 years ago

I remember being curious as a small child. I remember trying to grab a stool and rip through the plastic, other than that I never touched it.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 4 years ago

What our maximum pressure campaign has done in terms of achieving our objectives, I have not seen, it was not very enlightening from what they said in there in terms of how it's going to progress ... how our actions are going to force the changes we're looking for.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 4 years ago

I don't anticipate the use of military force, i think the President is, I take him at his word that he doesn't want to get into a war. But that doesn't mean that there's not a risk of it. And we need to manage that risk.

– Adam Smith

Found on CNN 4 years ago

The committee denies this request. The committee does not approve the proposed use of Department of Defense funds to construct additional physical barriers and roads or install lighting in the vicinity of the United States border.

– Adam Smith