quote · Legacy record
The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition, when suffered to exert itself with freedom and security, is so powerful a principle, that it is alone, and without any assistance, not only capable of carrying on the society to wealth and prosperity, but of surmounting a hundred impertinent obstructions with which the folly of human laws too often encumbers its operations
The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition, when suffered to exert itself with freedom and security, is so powerful a principle, that it is alone, and without any assistance, not only capable of carrying on the society to wealth and prosperity, but of surmounting a hundred impertinent obstructions with which the folly of human laws too often encumbers its operations
Approximate author period: c. 1748 AD · early modern
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- Author or tradition
- Adam Smith
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
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- Approximate author period: c. 1748 AD · early modern
Approximate author-period evidence for Adam Smith: documented activity in 1748. Wikidata Q9381, inspected 2026-10-08. Not a quotation composition date or independent verification of attribution. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9381 (accessed 2026-10-08).
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 70785; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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