لسنا ننتظر عشاءنا من إحسان الجزّار أو الخمّار أو الخبّاز، بل من حرصهم على مصالحهم. نخاطب فيهم حبّ ذواتهم لا إنسانيّتهم، ولا نحدّثهم عن حاجاتنا بل عن منافعهم. ولا يختار الاعتماد على إحسان أبناء وطنه سوى المتسوّل.

“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages. Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow citizens.”Adam Smith — An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations0: With a life of the author : Also a view of the doctrine of Smith, compared with that of the french economists (1817)