Date: 1761

"The great judge of the world, has, for the wisest reasons, thought proper to interpose, between the weak eye of reason, and the throne of his eternal justice, a degree of obscurity and darkness, which though it does not intirely cover the great tribunal from the view of mankind, yet renders the ...

— Smith, Adam (1723-1790)

Date: 1761

"But whatever may be the authority of this inferiour tribunal which is continually before their eyes, if at any time it should decide contrary to those principles and rules, which nature has established for regulating its judgments, men feel that they may appeal from this unjust decision, and cal...

— Smith, Adam (1723-1790)

Date: 1761

"The applause of the whole world will avail but little if our own conscience condemn us; and the disapprobation of all mankind is not capable of oppressing us, when we are absolved by the tribunal within our own breast, and when our mind tells us that mankind are in the wrong."

— Smith, Adam (1723-1790)

Date: 1761

"But though this tribunal within the breast be thus the supreme arbiter of all our action, though it can reverse the decisions of all mankind with regard to our character and conduct, and mortify us amidst the applause or support us under the censure of the world; yet, if we enquire into the orig...

— Smith, Adam (1723-1790)

Date: 1761

"In order to defend ourselves from such partial judgments, we soon learn to set up in our own minds a judge between ourselves and those we live with."

— Smith, Adam (1723-1790)

Date: 1761

"On the contrary, if the man within condemns us, the loudest acclamations of mankind appear but as the noise of ignorance and folly, and whenever we assume the character of this impartial judge, we cannot avoid viewing our actions with his distaste and dissatisfaction."

— Smith, Adam (1723-1790)

Date: 1761

"Such persons are not accustomed to consult the judge within concerning the opinion which they ought to form of their own conduct."

— Smith, Adam (1723-1790)

Date: 1761

"This inmate of the breast, this abstract man, the representative of mankind, and substitute of the Deity, whom nature has constituted the supreme judge of all their actions is seldom appealed to by them."

— Smith, Adam (1723-1790)

Date: 1761

"It is only by consulting this judge within, that we can see whatever relates to ourselves in its proper shape and dimensions, or that we can make any proper comparison between our own interests and those of other men."

— Smith, Adam (1723-1790)

Date: 1761

"As to the eye of the body, objects appear great or small, not so much according to their real dimensions as according to the nearness or distance of their situation; so do they likewise to what may be called the natural eye of the mind: and we remedy the defects of both these organs pretty much ...

— Smith, Adam (1723-1790)