Every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as… — Adam Smith

Every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it... he intends only his own security... and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.

The Wealth of Nations · 1776
★ 7.2
Provenance
Current citation
Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, edited by Edwin Cannan. The Modern Library, 2000, bk. 4, ch. 2.
Original citation
Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations. Vol. 2, London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell 1776, bk. 4, ch. 2.