woensdag 29 december 2010

Terug naar Schotland


Een onverwacht argument pro kleine landen. Adam Smith (prentje) schrijft zijn vriend David Hume, die overweegt zich permanent in Frankrijk te vestigen. Geen goed idee, meent Smith. Kom terug naar Schotland en wel hierom:
"A man is always displaced in a forreign Country, and notwithstanding the boasted humanity and politeness of this Nation, they appear to me to be, in general, more meanly interested, and that the cordiality of their friendship is much less to be depended on than that of our own countrymen. They live in such large societies and their affections are dissipated among so great a variety of objects, that they can bestow but a very small share of them upon any individual."

in: Nicolas Phillipson, Adam Smith. An Enlightened Life, Allan Lane, 2010.

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