William Petty

“To charge the Consumption of a Commodity, is not to charge the Producer of it, but the ultimate User and Enjoyer.”

“Labour is the father and active principle of wealth, as lands are the mother.”

“The method I take to do this is not yet very usual; for instead of using only comparative and superlative words, and intellectual arguments, I have taken the course... to express myself in terms of number, weight, or measure.”

“Money is but the fat of the body-politic, whereof too much doth as often hinder its agility, as too little makes it sick.”

“That a small Country and few People may be equivalent in Wealth and Strength to a great People and Territory.”

“That some kind of Taxes, if they be rightly applyed to their proper use, are no burden to the People.”

“We should not be led by the vulgar Opinions, nor by the Authority of a few, but by the Sense and Experience of the generality of Mankind.”

“It is the Interest of the Commercial Part of the World, that the World be no longer cozened by the name of a Thing, before the Nature, and Measure, and true Effect thereof be agreed upon.”

“That there are spare Hands enough among the King’s Subjects, to earn two Millions per annum more than they now do.”

“That the People and Territories of the King of England, are naturally as considerable for Wealth and Strength, as those of France.”