e health, there is no help. So, too, it is impossible really to
buy or sell the love of relatives, the esteem of friends, the happiness
of a good conscience. Wealth may do a great deal, but it cannot really
ensure those things which are more precious than pearls and rubies.
Political economy does not pretend to examine all the causes of
happiness, and those moral riches which cannot be bought and sold are no
part of wealth in our present use of the word. The poor man who has a
good conscience, affectionate friends, and good health, may really be
much happier than the rich man, who is deprived of such blessings; but,
on the other hand, a man need not lose his good conscience, and his
other sources of happiness when he becomes rich and enjoys all the
interesting occupations and amusements which wealth can give. #Wealth,
then, is far from being the only good thing: nevertheless it is good#,
because it saves us from too severe labour, from the fear of actual
want, and enables us to buy such pleasant things and services as are
transferable.

#7. Wealth is limited in Supply.# In the second place, things cannot be
called wealth unless they be _limited in supply_; if we have just as
much of any substance as we want, then we shall not esteem a new supply
of it. Thus the air around us is not wealth in ordinary circumstances,
because we have only to open our mouths and we get as much as we can
use. What air we do actually breathe is exceedingly useful, because it
keeps us alive; but we usually pay nothing for it, because there is
plenty for all. In a diving bell, or a deep mine, however, air becomes
limited in supply, and then may be considered a part of wealth. When the
tunnel under the English Channel is completed, it will be a great
question how to get air to breathe in the middle of it. Even in the
Metropolitan Railway tunnel a little more fresh air would be very
valuable.

On the other hand diamonds, though much valued, are used for few
purposes; they make beautiful ornaments and they serve to cut glass or
to bore rocks. Their high value chiefly arises from the fact that they
are scarce. Of course scarcity alone will not create value. There are
many scarce metals, or minerals, of which only a few little bits have
ever yet been seen; but such substances are not valuable, unless some
special use has been found for them. The metal iridium is sold at a very
high price because it is wanted for making the tips of gold pens, and
c