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.
Adam SmithRead
Resentment seems to have been given us by nature for a defense, and for a defense only! It is the safeguard of justice and the security of innocence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Resentment serves as a natural defense mechanism that protects justice and preserves innocence.
In this quote, Adam Smith suggests that resentment is not merely a negative emotion but a fundamental aspect of human nature that arises as a protective measure. It acts as a safeguard for justice, helping individuals and societies to maintain moral standards and ensure that wrongdoings are addressed, thus preserving the integrity of innocence.
Themes
ResentmentJusticeDefenseInnocenceNature
In practice
Example use cases
This quote would be perfect for a discussion in a philosophy class about the role of emotions in moral reasoning.
More from Adam Smith
All quotes βWherever there is great property, there is great inequality.
Adam SmithRead
This is one of those cases in which the imagination is baffled by the facts.
Adam SmithRead
The real and effectual discipline which is exercised over a workman is that of his customers. It is the fear of losing their employment which restrains his frauds and corrects his negligence.
Adam SmithRead
Defense is superior to opulence.
Adam SmithRead
I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.
Adam SmithRead
Similar quotes
It's the niceties that make the difference fate gives us the hand, and we play the cards.
Arthur SchopenhauerRead
Many people despise those who spend their health, strength and money for the salvation of others, and call them mad. And yet it is they who will save many and be saved themselves.
Sadhu Sundar SinghRead
Trust and value your own divinity as well as your connection to nature. Seeing God's work everywhere will be your reward.
Wayne DyerRead
In most cases we attach ourselves to in order to take revenge on life, to punish it, to signify we can do without it, that we have found something better, and we also attach ourselves to God in horror of men.
Emile M. CioranRead
It is not man who is the enemy of the human species. It is the irrational; it is the spiritual when it is divorced from the material; from the lesson in one beating heart or one bleeding vein.
Anne RiceRead
Show me a man who lives alone and has a perpetually clean kitchen, and 8 times out of 9 I'll show you a man with detestable spiritual qualities.
Charles BukowskiRead