Jacques Turgot Quotes

A collection of quotes by Jacques Turgot.

Jacques Turgot (1727-1781) was a prominent French economist, statesman, and philosopher. Born into a noble family, Turgot proved to be an exceptional intellectual from an early age. He studied law and became a lawyer before eventually turning his attention to economics and public administration.

Turgot's economic views were ahead of his time, and he is regarded as one of the precursors of modern economics. He believed in laissez-faire policies and advocated for free trade and deregulation. Turgot's most notable work, "Réflexions sur la formation et la distribution des richesses" (Reflections on the Formation and Distribution of Wealth), focused on economic development and income distribution.

In 1774, Turgot was appointed as the Controller-General of Finances by King Louis XVI, a position that allowed him to implement his economic ideas. However, his attempts at implementing reforms faced fierce opposition from the aristocracy and other vested interests. After just two years in office, he was dismissed by the king due to political pressure.

Despite his short tenure, Turgot's ideas and policies left a lasting impact. His commitment to liberty, rationality, and progress influenced subsequent generations of economists and policymakers. Turgot's contributions earned him a place among the key figures of the French Enlightenment and solidified his reputation as a pioneering advocate of economic liberalism.

We see societies establishing themselves, nations forming th

We see societies establishing themselves, nations forming themselves, which in turn dominate over other nations or become subject to them. Empires rise and fall; laws, forms of government, one succeeding another; the arts, the sciences, are discovered and are cultivated; sometimes retarded and sometimes accelerated in their progress, they pass from one region to another. Self-interest, ambition, vainglory, perpetually change the scene of the world, inundate the earth with blood. Yet in the midst of their ravages manners are gradually softened, the human mind takes enlightenment, separate nations draw nearer to each other, commerce and policy connect at last all parts of the globe, and the total mass of the human race, by the alternations of calm and agitation, of good conditions and of bad, marches always, although slowly, towards still higher perfection...

Jacques Turgot