Adam Smith Quotes

Man, an animal that makes bargains.

I always think if you are asking somebody for something it is a good idea to give them something first.

Everybody trades off in some sense or another.

It was a mutual thing. I made a deal with them: I asked them if they did not bring out the place card of Malachi, I would let them have two minutes with each one of my patients.

Put two Yankees in a room together, and in an hour they will each have gained ten dollars from the other.

Nobody ever saw a dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of one bone for another with another dog.

… the principle of give and take--give one and take ten--the principle of diplomacy.

The first rule of negotiations is that normally you have to give to get.

It is never exactly clear what makes something a quid or a quo.

Everything is a negotiation. Everything is a little bit of give and take.

Trade is a social act.

In a deal, you give and take. You compromise. Then you grab the cash and catch the next train out of town.

Exchange is creation.

Trade is nothing else but a Commutation of Superfluities; for instance: I give mine, what I can spare, for somewhat of yours, which I want, and you can spare.

You help me, I'll help you. That's politics.

Commerce, trade and exchange make other people more valuable alive than dead, and mean that people try to anticipate what the other guy needs and wants. It engages the mechanisms of reciprocal altruism, as the evolutionary biologists call it, as opposed to raw dominance.

No trade will be made unless they want the thing more than they want their money.

He that is won with a nut, may be lost with an apple.

All legislation is founded upon the principle of mutual concession.

Donald Trump doesn't necessarily stay mad for very long. He's a transactional guy. If you can offer him something, he will take it. Or from a salesman's point of view, if he's not making the sale, you're of no use to him. But if you suddenly come back into the showroom and are willing to buy, he's willing to sell.

And what will you give me in return, Severus?' 'In - in return?' Snape gaped at Dumbledore, and Harry expected him to protest, but after a long moment he said, 'Anything.

Every man lives by exchanging.

Dealing with political things, it's not for me. It makes me crazy. I want to buy, you want to sell. Please make it simple.

When anyone in Washington asks for a favor, no matter how little the favor means to you, act pained and get as much as you can in exchange - even if the person asking is the president of the United States.

Bartering is not my strong point.