Comment by nonrandomstring

Obviously a lot is lost in translation from Glaswegian Scottish to English but, yes, he is widely misappropriated by economists and misinterpreted to serve modern conceits that occlude his humanistic and compassionate writing that is on a level with Rousseau or Fromm. Smith had an extraordinarily optimistic view of humans and had a similar idea to Aristotle that while people brood and intellectualise over "sordid and selfish" thoughts, when it comes to action we are instinctively "generous and so noble".