It is not a correct deduction from the Principles of Economics that enlightened self-interest always operates in the public interest† Experience does not show that individuals when they make up a social unit are always less clear-sighted than when they act separately.
Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2010 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Learn more about self-interest