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… is from page 46 of Matt Ridley’s excellent 1997 book, The Origins of Virtue [2] (footnote excluded):
Indeed, [Adam] Smith pointed out that benevolence is inadequate for the task of building cooperation in a large society, because we are irredeemably biased in our benevolence to relatives and close friends; a society built on benevolence would be riddled with nepotism. Between strangers, the invisible hand of the market, distributing selfish ambitions, is fairer.
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