Thus methinks should men of judgement frame Their means of traffic from the vulgar trade, And as their wealth increaseth, so enclose Infinite riches in a little room.

-Marlowe, Christopher
c.1589  The Jew of Malta (published1633), act1, sc.1.

Alas! What boots it with uncessant care To tend the homely slighted Shepherd's trade, And strictly meditate the thankless muse; Were it not better done as others use, To sport with Amaryllis in the shade, Or with the tangles of Neaera's hair? Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise (That last infirmity of noble mind) To scorn delights, and live laborious days; But the fair guerdon when we hope to find, And think to burst out into sudden blaze, Comes the blind Fury with th'abhorred shears, And slits the thin-spun life.

-Milton,John
  Lycidas, l.64^76.

Mon mestier et mon art, c'est vivre. My trade and art is to live.

-Montaigne, Michel Eyquem de
  Essais, bk.2, ch.6 (translated by Charles Cotton).

We consider ourselves to be free because no one in our society is allowed unlimited poweröno leader, faction, party or 'class', no majority, no government, church, corporation, trade, or professional association or trade union. The secret of its freedom is that it is composed of a multitude of organisations in the constitution of the best of which is reproduced that diffusion of power which is characteristic of the whole.

-Oakeshott, Michael Joseph
  Rationalism in Politics.

Any daily journalist will tell you that one of the most important secrets of his trade is the trick of making it appear that there is news when there is no news.

-Orwell, George pseudonym of  Eric Arthur Blair
  In the Tribune, 21  Apr.

I am sure that the immediate abolition of the slave trade is the first, the principal, the most indispensable act of policy, of dutyand of justice the legislature of this country has to take, if it is indeed their wish to secure those important objects† For we continue to this hour a barbarous traffic in slaves, we continue it even yet, in spite of all our great and undeniable pretensions as civilisation.

-Pitt,William known as  theYounger
  Speech to the House of Commons, 2 Apr.The House did not abolish slavery until1806.

'The firm'öa proud Victorian word.It evokes the lost sense of Victorian regard for the pride of people in their daily trade.

-Pritchett, Sir V(ictor) S(awdon)
'Betjeman', in the NewYorker, 24 Jun.

Men don't and can't live by exchanging articles, but by producing them. They don't live by trade, but by work. Give up that foolish and vain title of Trades Unions; and take that of Labourers' Unions.

-Ruskin,John
  Open letter to EnglishTrades Unions, 29 Sep.

What is virtue but theTrade Unionism of the married?

-Shaw, George Bernard
  DonJuan to AnnWhitefield. Man and Superman, act 3.

People ofthesametradeseldommeettogether, evenfor merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracyagainst the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.

-Smith, Adam
  An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of theWealth of Nations, bk.1, ch.10, pt.2.

Every individual†intends only his own gain, and he is in this as in many other cases led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention† By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the publick good.

-Smith, Adam
  An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of theWealth of Nations, bk.4, ch.3.

   The moving accident is not my trade; To freeze the blood I have no ready arts: 'Tis my delight, alone in summer shade, To pipe a simple song for thinking hearts.

-Wordsworth,William
  'Hart-LeapWell', part 2, l.97^100.