“ After all that has been said of the levity and inconstancy of human nature, it appears evidently from experience, that man is, of all sorts of luggage, the most difficult to be transported. ”
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776). copy citation
| Author | Adam Smith |
|---|---|
| Source | The Wealth of Nations |
| Topic | human nature man inconstancy |
| 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
“Such a difference of prices, which, it seems, is not always sufficient to transport a man from one parish to another, would necessarily occasion so great a transportation of the most bulky commodities, not only from one parish to another, but from one end of the kingdom, almost from one end of the world to the other, as would soon reduce them more nearly to a level. After all that has been said of the levity and inconstancy of human nature, it appears evidently from experience, that man is, of all sorts of luggage, the most difficult to be transported. If the labouring poor, therefore, can maintain their families in those parts of the kingdom where the price of labour is lowest, they must be in affluence where it is highest.
Fourthly, the variations in the price of labour not only do not correspond, either in place or time, with those in the price of provisions, but they are frequently quite opposite.” source
Fourthly, the variations in the price of labour not only do not correspond, either in place or time, with those in the price of provisions, but they are frequently quite opposite.” source
Meaning and analysis
