Baraka_Guru

I'm not sure this is purely from Smith. My understanding is that he did not use such terms at capitalism. He was technically a pre-capitalist.

Moreover, Smith focused on the function of wealth as being generated by the drive behind people looking after their own self-interest, which could ultimately create a better standard of living for everyone.

It is my understanding that The Wealth of Nations is about outlining the benefits of a free and open market economy. I'm not sure morality played much of a role in it. It was about capital and how it uses labour and other resources for generating wealth and that it could be more efficient if there were no restrictions, such as tariffs and subsidies and other protectionist practices.

But don't quote me on this. I'm not that familiar with the work. It's important to realize it's more of a proto-capitalist treatise, coming out during the rise of the Industrial Revolution (and an increasing interest in open markets) and the decline of mercantilism (marked by a strict practice of protectionism).

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot