Adam Smith

What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?

The uniform, constant and uninterrupted effort of every man to better his condition … is frequently powerful enough to maintain the natural progress of things toward improvement, in spite both of the extravagance of government, and of the greatest errors of administration … surmounting a hundred impertinent obstructions with which the folly of human laws too often encumbers its operations.

Those unproductive hands … may consume so great a share … that all the frugality and good conduct of individuals may not be able to compensate … this violent and forced encroachment.

The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, would … 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.

Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this – no dog exchanges bones with another.

In the midst of all the exactions of government … It is this effort, protected by law and allowed by liberty to exert itself in the manner that is most advantageous, which has maintained the progress.

Successful people are those who are willing to delay gratification and make sacrifices in the short term so that they can enjoy far greater rewards in the long term.

If my life has had a theme, I suppose it has been a typical American theme in that, for most of it, I have been looking for happiness and success.

Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our security, guidance, wisdom, and power.

When it comes to money, the only skill most people know is to work hard.

My definition of an expert in any field is a person who knows enough about what’s really going on to be scared.

Let your mind wander in the pure and simple. Be one with the infinite. Let all things take their course.

A new day is here. Yesterday is a memory. Tomorrow is unknown. Now is the knowing.

Now’s the best time you’ll ever have in life to get ahead!

Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America. We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again.

A goal properly set is halfway reached.

Some people make things happen, some people watch things happen, and some ask what happened.

Be so good they can’t ignore you.

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.

Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is what the majority of men do. That is why the majority is just ordinary.

The successful business executive can handle challenges and solve problems at a remarkable clip.