"On the road from the City of Skepticism, I had to pass through the Valley of Ambiguity." — Adam Smith

Defense is superior to opulence.

Resentment seems to have been given us by nature for a defense, and for a defense only! It is the safeguard of justice and the security of innocence.

It is not by augmenting the capital of the country, but by rendering a greater part of that capital active and productive than would otherwise be so, that the most judicious operations of banking can increase the industry of the country.

This is one of those cases in which the imagination is baffled by the facts.