The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as in poetry.
The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition， when suffered to exert itself with freedom and security， is so powerful a principle that it is alone， and without any assistance， not only capable of carrying on the society to wealth and prosperity but of surmounting a hundred impertinent obstructions with which the folly of human laws too often encumbers its operations.
People of the same trade seldom meet together， even for merriment and diversion， but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public， or in some contrivance to raise prices.
