Quotation of the Day…

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… is from page 456 of the Book IV, Chapter ii, of the 1981 Liberty Fund edition of Adam Smith’s 1776 masterpiece, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, which was originally published 250 years ago today. Today’s “Quotation of the Day” is a rare repeat, but the occasion justifies it. The 947 pages of Smith’s 1776 book is stuffed with brilliant passages; choosing one as a favorite is quite difficult. But if forced to pick my single favorite passage from this work, the one below is it :

What is the species of domestic industry which his capital can employ, and of which the produce is likely to be of the greatest value, every individual, it is evident, can, in his local situation, judge much better than any statesman or lawgiver can do for him. The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals would not only load himself with a most unnecessary attention, but assume an authority which could safely be trusted, not only to no single person, but to no council or senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it.