Quotes About Self-interest

man, and from self-interest in this world or in the next. There is a studied abstinence from any of the phrases which, in the mouths of others, import the acknowledgment of such a fact.* If we find the words "Conscience," "Principle," "Moral Rectitude," "Moral Duty," in his Table of the Springs of Action, it is among the synonymes of the "love of reputation;

People individually do best for everyone when they do best for themselves, when they aren't commanded too much or protected against the consequences of their own folly.

Narrow natures expand by persecuting as much as others through beneficence; they prove their power over their fellows by cruel tyranny as others do by loving kindness; they simply go the way their temperaments drive them. Add to this the propulsion of self-interest and you may read the enigma of most social matters.

Metaphysics—objective reality; Epistemology—reason; Ethics—self-interest; Politics—capitalism.

BRITAIN'S SELF-INTEREST as regards her empire on the American continent in the 18th century was clearly to maintain her sovereignty, and for every reason of trade, peace and profit to maintain it with the goodwill and by the voluntary desire of the colonies.

Be most suspicious of your hearts in cases where self-interest or passions are engaged; for they will easily deal deceitfully and cheat yourselves in the smoke and dust of such distempers.

People, for reasons of their own, often fail to do things that would be good for them or good for society.

The record company has fought for themselves, never for me.

Who is the most sensible person? The one who finds what is to their own advantage in all that happens to them.

Politics isn't about helping people, it's about maintaining whatever people have got, whatever it takes to maintain their position at the expense of us.

It is a serious mistake to assume that people are simply always voting in their self-interest.

People do not necessarily vote in their self-interest. They vote their identity. They vote their values. They vote for who they identify with. They may identify with their self-interest. That can happen. It is not that people never care about their self-interest. But they vote their identity. And if their identity fits their self-interest, they will vote for that. It is important to understand that point.

Man serves the interests of no creature except himself.

Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest, that the prosperity of the one is the prosperity of the others. It is all lies. Man serves the interest of no creature except himself.

Kochany, nie obchodzÄ… mnie nastÄ™pne pokolenia! Mnie chodzi o nas dwoje! - JesteÅ› buntownikiem tylko od pasa w dóÅ' - stwierdziÅ'

And perhaps you might pretend, afterwards, that it was only a trick and that you just said it to make them stop and didn't really mean it. But that isn't true. At the time when it happens you do mean it. You think there's no other way of saving yourself and you're quite ready to save yourself that way. You want it to happen to the other person. You don't give a damn what they suffer. All you care about is yourself.

Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest, that the prosperity of the one is the prosperity of the others. It is all lies. Man serves the interests of no creature except himself.

You pay to everyone but yourself. Dullard, you labor for others.

In my view, philanthropy goes against the grain; therefore it generates a lot of hypocrisy and many paradoxes. Here are some examples: Philanthropy is supposed to be devoted to the benefit of others, but philanthropists are primarily concerned with their own benefit; philanthropy is supposed to help people, yet it often makes people dependent and turns them into objects of charity; applicants tell foundations what they want to hear, then proceed to do what the applicant wants to do.

I was born a heretic. I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. Susan B. Anthony, U.S. reformer and suffragist

Defender of the liberty that I idolize, myself more free than anyone, in coming as a friend to offer my services to this intriguing republic, I bring to it only my frankness and my good will; no ambition, no self-interest; in working for my glory, I work for their happiness.

If any civilization is to survive, it is the morality of altruism that men have to reject.

It's often people whose jobs are abstractions that see a company as a zero-sum game where they have to fight and defend what's theirs to stay alive or get promoted.

You refused to believe that I preserved your life in Tal Verrar for reasons of conscience. Now I give you the self-interested motive you previously insisted upon, and you refuse to believe it as well. Are you really that arrogant, that logic is as optional as a fashion accessory for you?