Note 122 — Chapter IV · OBJECTIVE HEDONISM AND COMMON SENSE
Reading edition
It is striking to find the author of the Wealth of Nations, the founder of a long line of plutologists who are commonly believed to exalt the material means of happiness above all other, declaring that “wealth and greatness are mere trinkets of frivolous utility,” and that “in ease of body and peace of mind, all the different ranks of life are nearly upon a level, and the beggar who suns himself by the side of the highway possesses that security which kings are fighting for.” Adam Smith, Moral Sentiments, Part iv. chap. i.