Which is better of the two, a small mine of valuable yield, or a big mine productive of commodities of inferior value? My teacher says that the former is better inasmuch as valuable products, such as diamonds, precious stones, pearls, corals, gold and silver, can swallow vast quantities of inferior commodities.
Not so, says Kautilya, for there is the possibility of purchasing valuable commodities by a mass of accumulated articles of inferior value, collected from a vast and longstanding mine of inferior commodities.
—Kautilya, in the Arthaśāstra, 7.12:14-16
