Jean-Baptiste Say Quotes

Quotes about:

• It is the aim of good government to stimulate production, of bad government to encourage consumption.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Government, Aim, Consumption

  Jean Baptiste Say, Clement Cornell Biddle (1851). “A treatise on political economy”, p.139

  71 Copy quote

• The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Yield, Entrepreneur, Creative Destruction

  70 Copy quote

• Supply creates its own demand.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Demand, Economics, Supply And Demand

  Jean-Baptiste Say (2016). “Jean-Baptiste Say and Political Economy”, p.42, Routledge

  36 Copy quote

• What can we expect from nations still less advanced in civilization than the Greeks?

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Civilization, Greek, Stills

  Jean Baptiste Say (1827). “A treatise on political economy: or, The production, distribution and consumption of wealth”, p.31

  4 Copy quote

• The manner in which things exist and take place, constitutes what is called the nature of things; and a careful observation of the nature of things is the sole foundation of all truth.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Nature, Truth, Foundation

  Jean Baptiste Say (1827). “A treatise on political economy: or, The production, distribution and consumption of wealth”, p.21

  70 Copy quote

• One product is always ultimately bought with another, even when paid for in the first instance with money.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Firsts, Instance, Paid

  Jean Baptiste Say (1827). “A treatise on political economy: or, The production, distribution and consumption of wealth”, p.259

  31 Copy quote

• Nothing can be more idle than the opposition of theory to practice!

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Practice, Theory, Idle

  Jean Baptiste Say (1827). “A treatise on political economy: or, The production, distribution and consumption of wealth”, p.24

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• The best scheme of finance is, to spend as little as possible; and the best tax is always the lightest.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Littles, Finance, Schemes

  Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, J.R. McCulloch (2013). “History of Economic Theory: The Selected Writings of Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, and J.R. McCulloch”, p.148, Coventry House Publishing

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• The difficulty lies, not in finding a producer, but in finding a consumer.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Lying, Producers, Difficulty

  Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, J.R. McCulloch (2013). “History of Economic Theory: The Selected Writings of Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, and J.R. McCulloch”, p.104, Coventry House Publishing

  21 Copy quote

• I have made no distinction between the circulation of goods and of money, because there really is none.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Made, Distinction, Goods

  Jean Baptiste Say (1827). “A treatise on political economy: or, The production, distribution and consumption of wealth”, p.86

  22 Copy quote

• Demand and supply are the opposite extremes of the beam, whence depend the scales of dearness and cheapness; the price is the point of equilibrium, where the momentum of the one ceases, and that of the other begins.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Opposites, Momentum, Demand

  Jean Baptiste Say, Clement Cornell Biddle (1851). “A treatise on political economy”, p.290

  53 Copy quote

• Nothing is more dangerous in practice, than an obstinate, unbending adherence to a system, particularly in its application to the wants and errors of mankind.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Errors, Practice, Want

  Jean Baptiste Say, Charles Robert Prinsep (1857). “A Treatise on Political Economy; Or, The Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Wealth”, p.196

  29 Copy quote

• Whence it is evident that the remedy must be adapted to the particular cause of the mischief; consequently, the cause must be ascertained, before the remedy is devised.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Causes, Mischief, Remedy

  Jean Baptiste Say, Charles Robert Prinsep (1857). “A Treatise on Political Economy; Or, The Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Wealth”, p.336

  4 Copy quote

• Opulent, civilized, and industrious nations, are greater consumers than poor ones, because they are infinitely greater producers.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Poor, Producers, Consumers

  Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, J.R. McCulloch (2013). “History of Economic Theory: The Selected Writings of Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, and J.R. McCulloch”, p.96, Coventry House Publishing

  13 Copy quote

• Every individual, from the common mechanic, that works in wood or clay, to the prime minister that regulates with the dash of his pen the agriculture, the breeding of cattle, the mining, or the commerce of a nation, will perform his business the better, the better he understands the nature of things,and the more his understanding is enlightened.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Agriculture, Understanding, Woods

  Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, J.R. McCulloch (2013). “History of Economic Theory: The Selected Writings of Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, and J.R. McCulloch”, p.133, Coventry House Publishing

  34 Copy quote

• Alas, how many have been persecuted for the wrong of having been right?

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Wisdom, Persecuted, Alas

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• And let no government imagine, that, to strip them of the power of defrauding their subjects, is to deprive them of a valuable privilege. A system of swindling can never be long lived, and must infallibly in the end produce much more loss than profit.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Loss, Government, Long

  Jean Baptiste Say, Clement Cornell Biddle (1851). “A treatise on political economy”, p.238

  16 Copy quote

• When a tree, a natural product, is felled, is society put into possession of no greater produce than that of the mere labour of the woodman?

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Tree, Natural, Produce

  Jean Baptiste Say, Charles Robert Prinsep (1857). “A Treatise on Political Economy; Or, The Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Wealth”, p.76

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• Capital can seldom be made productive, without undergoing several changes both of form and of place, the risk of which is always more or less alarming to persons unaccustomed to the operations of industry; whereas, on the contrary, landed property produces without any change of either quality or position.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Risk, Quality, Made

  Jean Baptiste Say (1854). “A treatise on political economy, or, the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth”, p.363

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• 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 of truths are loosely laid hold of, without their connexion being perceived, and numerous errors, without being enabled to detect their fallacy.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Numbers, Errors, Research

  Jean Baptiste Say, Charles Robert Prinsep (1857). “A Treatise on Political Economy; Or, The Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Wealth”, p.15

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• All those who, since Adam Smith, have turned their attention to Political Economy, agree that in reality we do not buy articles of consumption with money, the circulating medium with which we pay for them. We must in the first instance have bought this money itself by the sale of our produce.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Wisdom, Reality, Political

  Jean Baptiste Say (1936). “Letters to Thomas Robert Malthus on Political Economy and Stagnation of Commerce”, p.6, Lulu.com

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• A tax can never be favorable to the public welfare, except by the good use that is made of its proceeds.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Use, Welfare, Made

  Jean Baptiste Say (1827). “A treatise on political economy: or, The production, distribution and consumption of wealth”, p.113

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• The love of domination never attains more than a factitious elevation, that is sure to make enemies of all its neighbours.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Enemy, Domination, Elevation

  Jean Baptiste Say (1827). “A treatise on political economy: or, The production, distribution and consumption of wealth”, p.46

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• In times of political confusion, and under an arbitrary government, many will prefer to keep their capital inactive, concealed, and unproductive, either of profit or gratification, rather than run the risk of its display. This latter evil is never felt under a good government.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Running, Government, Evil

  Jean Baptiste Say, Charles Robert Prinsep (1857). “A Treatise on Political Economy; Or, The Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Wealth”, p.389

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• A treasure does not always contribute to the political security of its possessors. It rather invites attack, and very seldom is faithfully applied to the purpose for which it was destined.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Political, Doe, Purpose

  Jean Baptiste Say, Charles Robert Prinsep (1857). “A Treatise on Political Economy; Or, The Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Wealth”, p.487

  5 Copy quote

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