Adam Smith quote about poverty from The Wealth of Nations - 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.
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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, The Wealth of Nations (1776). copy citation

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Author Adam Smith
Source The Wealth of Nations
Topic poverty wealth envy
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 avarice and ambition in the rich, in the poor the hatred of labour and the love of present ease and enjoyment, are the passions which prompt to invade property; passions much more steady in their operation, and much more universal in their influence. Wherever there is a great property, there is great inequality. For one very rich man, there must be at least five hundred poor, and the affluence of the few supposes the indigence of the many. 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. It is only under the shelter of the civil magistrate, that the owner of that valuable property, which is acquired by the labour of many years, or perhaps of many successive generations, can sleep a single night in security.” source

Meaning and analysis

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