Tocqueville og Voltaire om handel

I anledning af Alexis de Tocquevilles 200 års fødselsdag har Adam Smith Institute Blog et fremragende citat af Tocqueville. Jeg bliver simpelthen nødt til også at vise den her på bloggen:

“Trade is the natural enemy of all violent passions. Trade loves moderation, delights in compromise, and is most careful to avoid anger. It is patient, supple, and insinuating, only resorting to extreme measures in cases of absolute necessity. Trade makes men independent of one another and gives them a high idea of their personal importance: it leads them to want to manage their own affairs and teaches them to succeed therein. Hence it makes them inclined to liberty and disinclined to revolution.”

Også Voltaire har ytret sig som handlens fortræffelige konsekvenser. I hans 6. brev om England skriver han således:

“Take a view of the Royal Exchange in London, a place more venerable than many courts of justice, where the representatives of all nations meet for the benefit of mankind. There the Jew, the Mahometan, and the Christian transact together, as though they all professed the same religion, and give the name of infidel to none but bankrupts.”