Quotes About Human nature

Samuel Johnson observed: "The fountain of content must spring up in the mind, and he who hath so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition, will waste his life in fruitless efforts and multiply the grief he proposes to remove.

Samuel Johnson observed: "The fountain of content must spring up in the mind, and he who hath so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition, will waste his life in fruitless efforts and multiply the grief he proposes to remove." Knowing

Samuel Johnson observó: «La fuente de la alegría debe brotar en la mente, y quien conozca tan poco la naturaleza humana como para buscar la felicidad en cualquier cosa que no sea su propia disposición, malgastará su vida en esfuerzos infructuosos y multiplicará las aflicciones que se propone suprimir».

The fountain of content must spring up in the mind, and he who hath so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition, will waste his life in fruitless efforts and multiply the grief he proposes to remove.

The fountain of content must spring up in the mind, and he who hath so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition, will waste his life in fruitless efforts and multiply the grief he proposes to remove."—Samuel Johnson Knowing that we are responsible—"response-able"—is fundamental to effectiveness and to every other habit of effectiveness we will discuss.

imposters, in one shape or another, are likely to flourish as long as human nature remains what it is and society shows itself ready to be gulled.

But elitism was inevitable with religion. Human beings just could not help themselves.

people nearly always left trails. It's human nature

Aristotle said all human actions have one or more of seven causes.  Chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.

The range of what is human is vast, ranging from the saintly to the monstrous. When we speak of other human beings as belonging to another species, we ignore the reality of our very nature.

People aren't "good" or "bad." People are people, and they respond to incentives. They can nearly always be manipulated—for good or ill—if only you find the right levers.

People are complicated creatures, with a nuanced set of private and public incentives, and that our behavior is enormously influenced by circumstances.

La gente no es «buena» ni «mala». Las personas son personas y responden a incentivos. Casi siempre pueden ser manipuladas —para bien o para mal— si se encuentran las palancas adecuadas.

pesar de lo egoísta que un hombre pueda suponerse —escribió Smith—, evidentemente existen algunos principios en su naturaleza que lo llevan a interesarse por la suerte de los demás y a convertir la necesidad de éstos en necesaria para sí mismo, aunque no le proporcione nada, salvo el placer de contemplarlo.»

For every clever person who goes to the trouble of creating an incentive scheme, there is an army of people, clever and otherwise, who will inevitably spend even more time trying to beat it. Cheating may or may not be human nature, but it is certainly a prominent feature in just about every human endeavor. Cheating is a primordial economic act: getting more for less.

How selfish soever man may be supposed," Smith wrote, "there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.

Most people, whether because of nature or nurture, generally put their own interests ahead of others'. This doesn't make them bad people; it just makes them human.

But as history clearly shows, most people, whether because of nature or nurture, generally put their own interests ahead of others'.

As pessoas não são boas ou más. As pessoas são pessoas e, como tal, reagem a incentivos. Quase sempre os indivíduos são manipuláveis - para o bem ou para o mal -, bastando, para tanto, encontrar as alavancas certas.

If asked how we'd behave in a situation that pits a private benefit against the greater good, most of us won't admit to favoring the private benefit. But as history clearly shows, most people, whether because of nature or nurture, generally put their own interests ahead of others'. This doesn't make them bad people; it just makes them human.

History clearly shows, most people, whether because of nature or nurture, generally put their own interests ahead of others'. This doesn't make them bad people; it just makes them human.

When the eyes were watching, Bateson's colleagues left nearly three times as much money in the honesty box. So the next time you laugh when a bird is frightened off by a silly scarecrow, remember that scarecrows work on human beings too.

How selfish soever man may be supposed," Smith wrote, "there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it." There

Our greatest enemies are ultimately not our political adversaries but entropy, evolution (in the form of pestilence and the flaws in human nature), and most of all ignorance—a shortfall of knowledge of how best to solve our problems.