Adam Smith：The Wealth of Nations, Book V, Chapter I, Paragraph 1689

The third and last duty of the sovereign or commonwealth, is that of erecting and maintaining those public institutions and those public works, which though they may be in the highest degree advantageous to a great society, are, however, of such a nature, that the profit could never repay the expense to any individual, or small number of individuals; and which it, therefore, cannot be expected that any individual, or small number of individuals, should erect or maintain. The performance of this duty requires, too, very different degrees of expense in the different periods of society.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300
Locator：Book V, Chapter I, paragraph 1689 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Exact match

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