“ Envy, malice, or resentment, are the only passions which can prompt one man to injure another in his person or reputation. ”
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776). copy citation
| Author | Adam Smith |
|---|---|
| Source | The Wealth of Nations |
| Topic | passion reputation |
| Date | 1776 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3300/3300-h/3300-h.htm |
Context
“But when one man kills, wounds, beats, or defames another, though he to whom the injury is done suffers, he who does it receives no benefit. It is otherwise with the injuries to property. The benefit of the person who does the injury is often equal to the loss of him who suffers it. Envy, malice, or resentment, are the only passions which can prompt one man to injure another in his person or reputation. But the greater part of men are not very frequently under the influence of those passions; and the very worst men are so only occasionally. As their gratification, too, how agreeable soever it may be to certain characters, is not attended with any real or permanent advantage, it is, in the greater part of men, commonly restrained by prudential considerations.”
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