Self Interest Quotes - Page 3

• How selfish soever man may be supposed, 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.

  Adam Smith

  Happiness, Selfish, Men

  Adam Smith (2016). “Delphi Complete Works of Adam Smith (Illustrated)”, p.19, Delphi Classics

  20 Copy quote

  Show source

• By self-interest, Man has become gregarious, but in instinct he has remained to a great extent solitary; hence the need of religion and morality to reinforce self-interest.

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Self, Needs

  Bertrand Russell (2008). “History of Western Philosophy”, p.681, Simon and Schuster

  52 Copy quote

  Show source

• Is it really true that political self-interest is nobler somehow than economic self-interest?

  Milton Friedman

  Self, Political, Economic

  9 Copy quote

• The ruin of the human heart is self-interest, which the American merchant calls self-service. We have become a self-service populace, and all our specious comforts -the automatic elevator, the escalator, the cafeteria -are depriving us of volition and moral and physical energy.

  Edward Dahlberg

  Heart, Self, Cafeteria

  21 Copy quote

• It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from regard to their own 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. Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow citizens.

  Adam Smith

  Self, Humanity, Liberty

  Adam Smith (1817). “An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations0: With a life of the author : Also a view of the doctrine of Smith, compared with that of the french economists ...”, p.19

  66 Copy quote

  Show source

• Man—every man—is an end in himself, not a means to the ends of others; he must live for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself; he must work for his rational self-interest, with the achievement of his own happiness as the highest moral purpose of his life.

  Ayn Rand

  Inspirational, Mean, Sacrifice

  Ayn Rand (2011). “Ayn Rand Novel Collection”, p.2419, Penguin

  15 Copy quote

  Show source

• He is led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention

  Adam Smith

  Ignorance, Invisible Hand, Hands

  An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations vol. 2, bk. 4, ch. 2 (1776) See Adam Smith 1

  68 Copy quote

  Show source

• Self-interest, to be sure, is one of the most important, but we have many other motives - honesty, self-respect, altruism, love, sympathy, faith, sense of duty, solidarity, loyalty, public-spiritedness, patriotism, and so on - that are sometimes even more important than self-seeking as the driver of our behaviors.

  Ha-Joon Chang

  Loyalty, Honesty, Self

  4 Copy quote

• There is no self-interest completely unrelated to others' interests. Due to the fundamental interconnectedness which lies at the heart of reality, your interest is also my interest. From this it becomes clear that "my" interest and "your" interest are intimately connected. In a deep sense, they converge.

  Dalai Lama

  Lying, Heart, Reality

  6 Copy quote

• Self-interest is an inexhaustible source of convenient illusions. The number of beings who wish to see truly is extraordinarily small.

  Henri Frederic Amiel

  Self, Numbers, Wish

  4 Copy quote

• Courage is a decision you make to act in a way that works through your own fear for the greater good as opposed to pure self-interest. Courage means putting at risk your immediate self-interest for what you believe is right.

  Derrick Bell

  Fear, Believe, Mean

  Derrick Bell (2010). “Ethical Ambition”, p.18, A&C Black

  40 Copy quote

  Show source

• If none of your role models provide the answer, then it is time to go within and ask yourself, "What would make me happy?" In other words, let your feelings guide you. This doesn't work well if you focus narrowly on your personal needs. I am not talking about selfishness or self-interest. When I ask, What will make you happy?, I mean, What way of loving others feels right for you? Choose a way of loving that makes you happy, and your efforts will be play rather than work.

  Bernie Siegel

  Mean, Play, Self

  4 Copy quote

• Altruism is masked self-interest. Aggressive self-interest is a masked urge to self-destruction.

  Greg Bear

  Self, Destruction, Aggressive

  Greg Bear (2014). “The Forge of God”, p.246, Open Road Media

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• The difficulty is to know conscience from self-interest.

  William Dean Howells

  Self, Fame, Difficulty

  William Dean Howells (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of William Dean Howells (Illustrated)”, p.2193, Delphi Classics

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Unless we believe the gospel, we will be driven in all we do-whether obeying or disobeying-by pride ('self-love') or fear ('of damnation'). Apart from 'grateful remembering' of the gospel, all good works are done then for sinful motives. Mere moral effort may restrain the heart, but does not truly change the heart. Moral effort merely 'jury rigs' the evil of the heart to produce moral behavior out of self-interest. It is only a matter of time before such a thin tissue collapses.

  Timothy Keller

  Grateful, Believe, Heart

  6 Copy quote

• We are the creatures of imagination, passion, and self-will, more than of reason or even of self-interest. Even in the common transactions and daily intercourse of life, we are governed by whim, caprice, prejudice, or accident. The falling of a teacup puts us out of temper for the day; and a quarrel that commenced about the pattern of a gown may end only with our lives.

  William Hazlitt

  Life, Fall, Passion

  William Hazlitt (1904). “The Collected Works of William Hazlitt: Fugitive writings”

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• Love...no such thing. Whatever it is that binds families and married couples together, that's not love. That's stupidity or selfishness or fear. Love doesn't exist. Self interest exists, attachment based on personal gain exists, complacency exists. But not love. Love has to be reinvented, that’s certain.

  Arthur Rimbaud

  Couple, Attachment, Self

  18 Copy quote

• The Bible constantly warns against a merely mercenary relationship with God - a friendship of convenience or self-interest. We should not love God simply because doing so will produce many consolations in our life. We must enter a true relationship, were we fall in love not with His benefits, but with Him.

  Robert Barron

  Falling In Love, Self, Benefits

  34 Copy quote

• Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.' He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Nature, Men, Self

  Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.227, Penguin

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• Still, even the most admirable of atheists is nothing more than a moral parasite, living his life based on borrowed ethics. This is why, when pressed, the atheist will often attempt to hide his lack of conviction in his own beliefs behind some poorly formulated utilitarianism, or argue that he acts out of altruistic self-interest. But this is only post-facto rationalization, not reason or rational behavior.

  Theodore Beale

  Atheist, Self, Religion

  13 Copy quote

• We must formulate, with both imagination and restraint, a new approach to the Middle East - not pressing our case so hard that the Arabs feel their neutrality and nationalism are threatened ... while at the same time trying to hasten the inevitable Arab acceptance of the permanence of Israel ... We must ... seek a permanent settlement among Arabs and Israelis based not on an armed truce but on mutual self-interest.

  John F. Kennedy

  Acceptance, Self, Israel

  4 Copy quote

• Surrender your self-interest. Love others as much as you love yourself. Then you can be entrusted with all things under heaven.

  Laozi

  Inspirational, Love You, Self

  8 Copy quote

• To be just, it is not enough to refrain from injustice. One must go further and refuse to play its game, substituting love for self-interest as the driving force of society.

  Pedro Arrupe

  Self, Games, Play

  "Justice with Faith Today".

  118 Copy quote

  Show source

• Love longs to be free, a stranger to every worldly desire, lest its inner vision become dimmed, and lest worldly self-interest hinder it or ill-fortune cast it down.

  Thomas a Kempis

  Love, Self, Vision

  4 Copy quote

• If Congress does its job in this regard, the residents of Puerto Rico will be empowered to act in their own self-interest and express their future political status aspirations accordingly.

  Dick Thornburgh

  Jobs, Self, Empowering

  8 Copy quote