Adam Smith：The Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter X, Paragraph 269

When any expensive machine is erected, the extraordinary work to be performed by it before it is worn out, it must be expected, will replace the capital laid out upon it, with at least the ordinary profits. A man educated at the expense of much labour and time to any of those employments which require extraordinary dexterity and skill, may be compared to one of those expensive machines. The work which he learns to perform, it must be expected, over and above the usual wages of common labour, will replace to him the whole expense of his education, with at least the ordinary profits of an equally valuable capital. It must do this too in a reasonable time, regard being had to the very uncertain duration of human life, in the same manner as to the more certain duration of the machine.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300
Locator：Book I, Chapter X, paragraph 269 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Exact match

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