Quotes About Self-interest

Every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest his own way," Adam Smith wrote in The Wealth of Nations, "and to bring both his industry and capital into competition with those of any other man, or order of men.

Never for a moment believe that the great body of the citizens of any State or States can deliberately intend to do wrong. They may, under the influence of temporary excitement or misguided opinions, commit mistakes; they may be misled for a time by the suggestions of self-interest; but in a community so enlightened and patriotic as the people of the United States argument will soon make them sensible of their errors, and when convinced they will be ready to repair them.

What we get, instead, are characters keeping their heartless compulsions secret from those who love them; characters scheming to appear loving or to prove to themselves that what feels like love is really just disguised self-interest; or, at most, characters directing an abstract or spiritual love toward somebody profoundly repellent . . .

Shouldn't goodness be its own reward? He [Perry Hildebrandt] wondered if an action, to qualify as authentically good, needed not only to be untainted by self-interest but also to bring no pleasure of any kind.

People who have a choice will no longer work to serve your reasons, your goals. They will not work to serve your authority, they will only work to serve their own.

Everyone is out for himself. Not everyone will say so but everyone behaves so. And those that don't say so often behave in an even more grossly selfish way.

There are two Great Forces of human nature: Self Interest and Caring for Others, and people are most successful when they are driven by a Hybrid Engine of the two.' If Takers are selfish, and Failed Givers are selfless: Successful Givers are 'otherish' - They care about benefitting others, but they also have ambitious goals for advancing their own interests.

Every man is, no doubt, by nature, first and principally recommended to his own care; and as he is fitter to take care of himself than of any other person, it is fit and right that it should be so

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love.

A person who can acquire no property, can have no other interest but to eat as much, and to labour as little as possible. Whatever work he does beyond what is sufficient to purchase his own maintenance can be squeezed out of him by violence only, and not by any interest of his own.

By pursuing his own interest (every individual) frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages

All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind.

the general run of politicians will always eschew those schemes for the future which are really difficult to put into practice; and they will practise this avoidance so that they may not lose the immediate favour of the mob. The importance and the success of such politicians belong exclusively to the present and will be of no consequence for the future. But that does not worry small-minded people; they are quite content with momentary results.

A lot of times when you have very short-term goals with a high payoff, nasty things can happen. In particular, a lot of people will take the low road there. They'll become myopic. They'll crowd out the longer-term interests of the organization or even of themselves.

Even wisdom has to yield to self-interest.

The dog wags his tail, not for you, but for your bread.

A selfish person always alters his/her principal according to his /her benefit.

The one thing you can say about people for sure, is that they'll only free themselves if freedom is in their own interest.

The one thing you can say about people for sure,' Ryan said, 'is that they'll only free themselves if freedom is in their own interest.

Self-interest makes some people blind, and others sharp-sighted.

Bureaucrats serve their own interests first.

I suffered initially because I think most of the people working in the industry only care about themselves. They are not interested in helping anyone as that may boomerang on them someday.

What I always liked about 'Sunny' whenever it approached any sort of hot-button issue is that, ultimately, what the characters felt about it could change at any given instant depending on what benefited them the most personally.