1. 只要不违反公正的法律，那么人人都有完全的自由以自己的方式追求自己的利益。
2. 包含着某些真理因素的谬误是最危险的。
3. 把友谊限于两人范围之内的人，似乎把明智的友谊的安全感与爱的妒嫉和蠢举相混淆。
4. The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations.志向的贫穷是真正贫穷的悲剧。
5. Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this - no dog exchanges bones with another.人是讨价还价的动物：其他的动物不会这样的勾当——狗是不会用自己吃的骨头去做交换。
6. Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.比恶毒更加可怕的是善行，因为善行过分，就不受良心的管制。
7. Labour was the first price, the original purchase - money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased.劳动首先成为价格，即成为用于偿付一切原始购买货币。早先，购买世界上一切的财富，并非通过金子银子，而是通过劳动。
8. Humanity is the virtue of a woman, generosity that of a man.人文精神是女人的善行，慷慨大方是男人的德性。
9. To feel much for others and little for ourselves; to restrain our selfishness and exercise our benevolent affections, constitute the perfection of human nature.多想别人，少想自己；节制自私，发挥仁爱，构筑完美人性。
10. Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.科学是热情和迷信最大的解药。
11. Adventure upon all the tickets in the lottery, and you lose for certain; and the greater the number of your tickets the nearer your approach to this certainty.参与所有的博彩投机，结果你必输无赢；彩票买得越多，离你肯定是输家越近。
12. All money is a matter of belief.所有的金钱都是一种信念。
亚当·斯密（Adam Smith 1723～1790）是经济学的主要创立者。1723年亚当斯密出生在苏格兰法夫郡（County Fife）的寇克卡迪（Kirkcaldy）。
《道德情操论》和《国富论》不仅是亚当斯密进行交替创作、修订再版的两部著作，而且是其整个写作计划和学术思想体系的两个有机组成部分。《道德情操论》所阐述的主要是伦理道德问题，《国富论》所阐述的主要是经济发展问题，从现在的观点看来，这是两门不同的学科，前者属于伦理学，后者属于经济学。亚当斯密把《国富论》看做是自己在《道德情操论》论述的思想的继续发挥。 |
