“ Luxury, in the fair sex, while it inflames, perhaps, the passion for enjoyment, seems always to weaken, and frequently to destroy altogether, the powers of generation. But poverty, though it does not prevent the generation, is extremely unfavourable to the rearing of children. ”
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776). copy citation
| Author | Adam Smith |
|---|---|
| Source | The Wealth of Nations |
| Topic | poverty enjoyment |
| 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
“A half-starved Highland woman frequently bears more than twenty children, while a pampered fine lady is often incapable of bearing any, and is generally exhausted by two or three. Barrenness, so frequent among women of fashion, is very rare among those of inferior station. Luxury, in the fair sex, while it inflames, perhaps, the passion for enjoyment, seems always to weaken, and frequently to destroy altogether, the powers of generation.
But poverty, though it does not prevent the generation, is extremely unfavourable to the rearing of children. The tender plant is produced; but in so cold a soil, and so severe a climate, soon withers and dies. It is not uncommon, I have been frequently told, in the Highlands of Scotland, for a mother who has born twenty children not to have two alive.”
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