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Deference to the rich and powerful comes more from admiring them than from hoping to benefit
Drawn from what Adam Smith said
What Adam Smith actually said
- Adam Smith Scottish moral philosopher and economist (1723 to 1790)
Upon this disposition of mankind, to go along with all the passions of the rich and the powerful, is founded the distinction of ranks, and the order of society. Our obsequiousness to our superiors more frequently arises from our admiration for the advantages of their situation, than from any private expectations of benefit from their good-will.
Where this was said
↗The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759; Dublin printing of 1777)gutenberg.org
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