Adam Smith on Taxing the Rich

“The necessaries of life [are] the great expense of the poor. . . . The luxuries and vanities of life [are] the principal expense of the rich, and a magnificent house embellishes and sets off to the best advantage all the other luxuries and vanities which they possess. . . . It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.”

Via The Big Picture.