“Vast Numbers throng'd the fruitful Hive;
Yet those vast Numbers made 'em thrive;
Millions endeavouring to supply
Each other's Lust and Vanity.”

—  Bernard Mandeville, book The Fable of the Bees

"The Grumbling Hive", line 31, p. 3
The Fable of the Bees (1714)

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Bernard Mandeville photo
Bernard Mandeville35
Anglo-Dutch writer and physician 1670–1733

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