Quotes About Motives

Yet Roddy at least had always been forthright with her. Though she suspected he hid one of his motives

she hated him, she did! Regan pounded her fists on the stone windowsill. He was a devious, cold-blooded manipulator. And he had likely been maneuvering her to his own purposes from the start. But why? Of

For you become your own audience, in some respects a very lax one, in some respects very exacting, when you become involved in psychologically stylistic subterfuges for presenting your own case to yourself in sympathetic terms (and even terms that seem harsh can often be found on closer scrutiny to be flattering, as with neurotics who visit sufferings upon themselves in the name of very high-powered motives which, whatever their discomfiture, feed pride).

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

Never trust someone who tells good stories, not until you know why they're doing it.

Never trust someone who tells good stories, not until you know why they're doing it.

The more one sees of human fate and the more one examines its secret springs of action, the more one is impressed by the strength of unconscious motives and by the limitations of free choice

Non-directed thinking is in the main subjectively motivated, and not so much by conscious motives as—far more—by unconscious ones.

Yo, señor, no soy malo, aunque no me faltarían motivos para serlo.

The unsolicited promise is one of the most reliable signals because it is nearly always of questionable motive. Promises are used to convince us of an intention, but they are not guarantees. A

Generally speaking, rapport-building has a far better reputation than it deserves. It is perceived as admirable when in fact it is almost always done for self-serving reasons.

We must learn and then teach our children that niceness does not equal goodness. Niceness is a decision, a strategy of social interaction; it is not a character trait. People seeking to control others almost always present the image of a nice person in the beginning. Like rapport-building, charm and the deceptive smile, unsolicited niceness often has a discoverable motive.

You saw his actions," Bow says, "but not his heart." Is she serious? "Actions reveal heart." "Not always. Deception is all about perception.

Hell is paved with good intention, not with bad ones. All men mean well.

People lie for many reasons: to save themselves, to get out of trouble, to avoid hurting someone's feelings. Manipulators lie to get what they want. Narcissists lie to make themselves seem grand to others and themselves. Recovering alcoholics lie to safeguard their tattered reputations. And those who love us most lie to us most of all, because life is a bumpy ride and they want to smooth it out as much as possible.

People lie for many reasons: to save themselves, to get out of trouble, to avoid hurting someone's feelings. Manipulators lie to get what they want. Narcissists lie to make themselves seem grand to others and themselves. Recovering alcoholics lie to safeguard their tattered reputations. And those who love us most lie to us most of all, because life is a bumpy ride and they want to smooth it out as much as possible. John

Victoria leaned forward. "Never trust an altruist. Humans are selfish creatures. The only people who give away money either haven't earned it or are trying to buy prestige or absolution with it. She has prestige. What has she done that she needs to atone so badly?

Bushido. The sense of honor which cannot bear being looked down upon as an inferior power,—that was the strongest of motives.

For years, everything done in France within a certain social class has had only one motive: fear. This social class caused the war, the defeat and the current peace. The Frenchmen of this caste hate no one; they feel neither jealousy nor disappointed ambition, nor any real desire for revenge. They're scared.

All the time when I speak to you, even now, I'm saying not precisely what I think, but what will impress you and make you respond. That's so even between us - and how much more it's so where there are stronger motives for deception. In fact, one's so used to this one hardly sees it. The whole language is a machine for making falsehoods.

I just can't live an ordinary life, I can't pass the time . I can't organise myself, I don't have ordinary motives any more. I can't even manage my body, when I go to bed I don't know where to put my arms.

There is nothing straight about you; no motive that hasn't another behind it; no statement that hasn't three meanings.

Do I want a character who just has the best motives and the best intentions, zero flaws, and is doing things for the right reasons? No!

Motives and purposes are in the brain and heart of man. Consequences are in the world of fact.