The Wealth of Nations

The Wealth of Nations

by

Adam Smith

In societies where most or all land is privately owned, landlords are the people who own that land and live off the rent that others pay them. While they tend to be passive, consuming much while working little, their interests are actually aligned with society’s. This is because, the more a society’s division of labor advances, the wealthier it gets and the higher its rents become.

Landlords Quotes in The Wealth of Nations

The The Wealth of Nations quotes below are all either spoken by Landlords or refer to Landlords . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Labor, Markets, and Growth Theme Icon
).
Book 2, Chapter 5 Quotes

No equal capital puts into motion a greater quantity of productive labour than that of the farmer. Not only his labouring servants, but his labouring cattle, are productive labourers. In agriculture, too, Nature labours along with man; and though her labour costs no expense, its produce has its value, as well as that of the most expensive workmen. [...] The labourers and labouring cattle, therefore, employed in agriculture, not only occasion, like the workmen in manufactures, the reproduction of a value equal to their own consumption, or to the capital which employs them, together with its owner’s profits, but of a much greater value. Over and above the capital of the farmer, and all its profits, they regularly occasion the reproduction of the rent of the landlord. This rent may be considered as the produce of those powers of Nature, the use of which the landlord lends to the farmer.

Related Characters: Farmers, Landlords
Page Number: 462–463
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 5, Chapter 2 Quotes

Ground-rents, so far as they exceed the ordinary rent of land, are altogether owing to the good government of the sovereign, which, by protecting the industry either of the whole people or of the inhabitants of some particular place, enables them to pay so much more than its real value for the ground which they build their houses upon; or to make to its owner so much more than compensation for the loss which he might sustain by this use of it. Nothing can be more reasonable, than that a fund, which owes its existence to the good government of the state, should be taxed peculiarly, or should contribute something more than the greater part of other funds, towards the support of that government.

Related Characters: Landlords
Page Number: 1068
Explanation and Analysis:
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Landlords Quotes in The Wealth of Nations

The The Wealth of Nations quotes below are all either spoken by Landlords or refer to Landlords . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Labor, Markets, and Growth Theme Icon
).
Book 2, Chapter 5 Quotes

No equal capital puts into motion a greater quantity of productive labour than that of the farmer. Not only his labouring servants, but his labouring cattle, are productive labourers. In agriculture, too, Nature labours along with man; and though her labour costs no expense, its produce has its value, as well as that of the most expensive workmen. [...] The labourers and labouring cattle, therefore, employed in agriculture, not only occasion, like the workmen in manufactures, the reproduction of a value equal to their own consumption, or to the capital which employs them, together with its owner’s profits, but of a much greater value. Over and above the capital of the farmer, and all its profits, they regularly occasion the reproduction of the rent of the landlord. This rent may be considered as the produce of those powers of Nature, the use of which the landlord lends to the farmer.

Related Characters: Farmers, Landlords
Page Number: 462–463
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 5, Chapter 2 Quotes

Ground-rents, so far as they exceed the ordinary rent of land, are altogether owing to the good government of the sovereign, which, by protecting the industry either of the whole people or of the inhabitants of some particular place, enables them to pay so much more than its real value for the ground which they build their houses upon; or to make to its owner so much more than compensation for the loss which he might sustain by this use of it. Nothing can be more reasonable, than that a fund, which owes its existence to the good government of the state, should be taxed peculiarly, or should contribute something more than the greater part of other funds, towards the support of that government.

Related Characters: Landlords
Page Number: 1068
Explanation and Analysis: