Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience

No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable

It (Oxford) is a sanctuary in which exploded systems and obsolete prejudices find shelter and protection after they have been hunted out of every corner of the world

To feel much for others and little for ourselves; to restrain our selfishness and exercise our benevolent affections, constitute the perfection of human nature

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.

This is one of those cases in which the imagination is baffled by the facts

Defense is superior to opulence

Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition

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

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.