The Proprietor Of Stock Is

Every Individual Necessarily Labors To Render The Annual Revenue Of Society As Great As He Can. He Generally Neither Intends To Promote The Public Interest, Nor Knows How Much He Is Promoting It. He Intends Only His Own Gain, And He Is, In This, As In Many Other Cases, Led By An Invisible Hand To Promote An End Which Was Not Part Of His Intention.

It Seldom Happens, However, That A Great Proprietor Is A Great Improver.

That A Joint Stock Company Should Be Able To Carry On Successfully Any Branch Of Foreign Trade, When Private Adventurers Can Come Into Any Sort Of Open And Fair Competition With Them, Seems Contrary To All Experience.

It Would Be Too Ridiculous To Go About Seriously To Prove That Wealth Does Not Consist In Money, Or In Gold And Silver; But In What Money Purchases, And Is Valuable Only For Purchasing. Money No Doubt, Makes Always A Part Of The National Capital; But It Has Already Been Shown That It Generally Makes But A Small Part, And Always The Most Unprofitable Part Of It.

It Is The Highest Impertinence And Presumption, Therefore, In Kings And Ministers To Pretend To Watch Over The Economy Of Private People, And To Restrain Their Expense. They Are Themselves, Always, And Without Any Exception, The Greatest Spendthrifts In The Society.