A science only advances with certainty, when the plan of inquiry and the object of our researches have been clearly defined; otherwise a small number… - Jean-Baptiste Say

The command of a large sum is a dangerous temptation to a national administration. Though accumulated at their expense, the people rarely, if ever profit by it: yet in point of fact, all value, and consequently, all wealth, originates with the people.

What is the motive which operates in every man's breast to counteract the impulse towards the gratification of his wants and appetites?

The haggardness of poverty is everywhere seen contrasted with the sleekness of wealth, the exhorted labour of some compensating for the idleness of others, wretched hovels by the side of stately colonnades, the rags of indigence blended with the ensigns of opulence; in a word, the most useless profusion in the midst of the most urgent wants.