Adam Smith | Biography, Achievements, Facts & Quotations

 

Adam Smith (1723 – 1790) was a Scottish philosopher whose works paved the way for the transition from old economic thought to the modern economic system. Smith was educated at the University of Glasgow and the Balliol College in Oxford. Smith’s first work Theory of Moral Sentiments introduced several major philosophical breakthroughs. His second work The Wealth of Nations was one of the world’s first collected descriptions of what builds nations’ wealth and it shaped the way the world conducted commerce for centuries to come. Due to his enormous contribution in shaping the modern world, Adam Smith has been honoured in various ways. Among other things, he was the first Scotsman to feature on an English banknote and a celestial body was named after him. Know all about Adam Smith including his biography, interesting facts about him, his major achievements and his best quotes.

 

BIOGRAPHY

Adam Smith Biography Featured

Born in Fifeshire, Scotland, Adam lost his father when he was very young and he was thus raised by his mother, with whom he established a very close relationship. After completing his education, Smith became an esteemed lecturer at University of Edinburgh and then at the Glasgow University. In 1762, Smith was conferred the title of Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the University of Glasgow and in 1778, he was appointed as commissioner of customs in Scotland. After a painful illness, Smith died at the age of 67 on July 17, 1790. He never married nor had any children. Know more about the family, life, education, career and death through his biography.

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ACHIEVEMENTS

Adam Smith Achievements Featured

Adam Smith laid the foundations of the modern economic system and he is known as the Father of Modern Economics. The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith is one of the most influential books ever written and is till date regarded as a fundamental work in classical economics. The economic theories of Adam Smith revolutionized world economics paving the way for the free market system and capitalism. He is thus one of the most influential people of the 18th century. Here are the 10 major accomplishments of Adam Smith including his contributions to economics.

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INTERESTING FACTS

Adam Smith Facts Featured

Adam Smith was absent minded and had a peculiar personality leading to many interesting incidents in his life. He hated to be captured in portraits due to which only a few portraits of him were created during his lifetime. Smith is considered by some to be a deist, believing in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only. Due to his enormous contribution in shaping the modern world, Adam Smith has been honoured in various ways. Among other things, he was the first Scotsman to feature on an English banknote and a celestial body was named after him. Here are 10 interesting facts about Adam Smith.

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BEST QUOTATIONS

1. “Wherever there is great property, there is great inequality… for one very rich man, there must be at least five hundred poor.”

2. “All money is a matter of belief.”

3. “Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.”

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

5. “Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer.”

6. “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.”

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

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

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

10. “All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind.”

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