who came up with the law of diminishing marginal utility
Marginal utility Carl Menger presented the theory in Grundsätze der Volkswirtschaftslehre (translated as Principles of Economics) in 1871. Menger's presentation is peculiarly notable on two points. First, he took special pains to explain why individuals should be expected to rank possible uses and then to use marginal utility to decide amongst trade-offs. (For this reason, Menger and his followers are sometimes called “the Psychological School”, though they are more frequently known as “the Austrian School” or as “the Vienna School”.) Second, while his illustrative examples present utility as quantified, his essential assumptions do not.[11] (Menger in fact crossed-out the numerical tables in his own copy of the published Grundsätze.[39]) Menger also developed the law of diminishing marginal utility.[14] Menger's work found a significant and appreciative audience.
The Little Red Hen The moral of this story is that those who make no contribution to producing a product do not deserve to enjoy the product: "if any would not work, neither should he or she eat."[2]
Matthew 7:7–8 The common English expression "Seek and Ye Shall Find" is derived from this verse.
Alexander Chalmers A quotation is often attributed to him: "The three grand essentials of happiness are: Something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for."[1]