"Every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it... he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, 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 no part of his intention. ... By pursuing his own interest he 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."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776), Book IV, Chapter II, Paragraph 9.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Invisible_hand
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Invisible hand
20 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Invisible hand →
Related Quotes
"To understand the economy then is to comprehend how it is driven by the animal spirits. Just as Adam Smith’s invisibl…"
"What Galbraith understood, and what later researchers (including this author) have proved, is that Adam Smith's "invi…"
"Writers after Coase have referred to the authority structure of the firm as a "visible hand" that works in combinatio…"
"...that every individual spontaneously tries to find the place and the trade in which he can best increase National g…"
"A man is of no use to this world, of no use to society or the neighborhood in which he lives, who has no other object…"
"The net effect of increasing scale, centralization of capital, vertical integration and diversification within the co…"
"Adam Smith was the first to perceive that we have stumbled upon methods of ordering human economic cooperation that e…"
"When the classical worldview was applied to social science, the dominant notions turned out to be struggle for surviv…"
"Suppose our social planner tried to choose an efficient allocation of resources on his own, instead of relying on mar…"
"This it is that gives a majesty so pure and touching to the historic figure of Christ; self-abandonment to God, utter…"