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Anne Robert Jacques Turgot was one of the greatest men of the 18th century and maybe of the century to follow. His attempts at reform during the latter half of the 18th century were unparalleled for their ingenuity during this period. However Turgot was a little too far ahead of his time and many of his concepts were received with skepticism and contempt by the ruling elites and monarchy of the time. It is easy …

…Turgot in his contribution to the period and to the state as we know it today because much of that state is based on the groundwork which, Turgot and others like him laid over two hundred-years earlier. As a society we build on the ideas of others, some people are born brilliant, like Turgot said, they are "torches that shine with their own light," but there is also, "diamonds which brilliantly reflect a borrowed light."