Page "Labor theory of value" Paragraph 4

A person drinking water from a good stream at his doorstep must " spend " labor to gain this value, at least if this action is relevant to economics.

In terms of modern orthodox terminology it is important to note that " labor ", at least in Smith's approach, is defined as the opposite of utility-" disutility ", pain, toil etc.

Labor which is pleasant in itself is only therefore partly labor, or perhaps not labor at all ( however, see opportunity cost ).

Labor which is highly skilled on the other hand owes part of its produce to an " investment " made in training and is almost like capital ( hence the modern concept of human capital ).

So many types of pleasant labor can be described as a result of an earlier and more painful investment.