If we bear in mind Smith's criticism of Hutcheson and Mandeville in adjoining chapters of the Moral Sentiments, and remember further that he must almost certainly have become acquainted with the Fable of the Bees when attending Hutcheson's lectures or soon afterwards, we can scarcely fail to suspect that it was Mandeville who first made him realise that "it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest".

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "If we bear in mind Smith's criticism of Hutcheson and Mandeville in adjoining chapters of the Moral Sentiments, and remember further that he must almost certainly have become acquainted with the Fable of the Bees when attending Hutcheson's lectures or soon afterwards, we can scarcely fail to suspect that it was Mandeville who first made him realise that "it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest"." in the context of "Edwin Cannan, 'Editor's Introduction' to Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations, Volume I (1904; 1961), p. xlvi" to mean that wisdom is timeless.