Egoism Quotes - Page 2

• Every man of action has a strong dose of egoism, pride, hardness, and cunning. But all those things will be regarded as high qualities if he can make them the means to achieve great ends.

  Giorgos Seferis

  Strong, Mean, Pride

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• But egoism is more than this. It is the realization by the individual that he is above all institutions and all formulas; that they exist only so far as he chooses to make them his own by accepting them.

  John Buchanan Robinson

  Realization, Individual, Accepting

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• No egoism is so insufferable as that of the Christian with regard to his soul.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Christian, Soul, Atheism

  "A Writer's Notebook". Book by W. Somerset Maugham, 1949.

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• Who among us has the strength to oppose petty egoism, those petty good feelings, pity and remorse?

  Ivan Turgenev

  Feelings, Pity, Good Feeling

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• There is no word more generally misinterpreted than the word egoism, in its modern sense.

  John Buchanan Robinson

  Modern, Misinterpreted

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• I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature.

  Albert Einstein

  God, Religious, Atheist

  Albert Einstein (2010). “Ideas And Opinions”, p.11, Broadway Books

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• As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health - food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism. Today I know it is Love of Oneself.

  Charlie Chaplin

  Attitude, People, Healthy

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• One must not allow oneself to skid down to isolationism and unbridled economic egoism. ... The second possible mistake would be excessive interference into the economic life of the country. And the absolute faith into the all-mightiness of the state.

  Vladimir Putin

  Country, Honesty, Mistake

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• I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows.

  Ayn Rand

  Reason, Supremacy, Capitalism

  Ayn Rand (1988). “The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z”, p.415, Penguin

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• Get it into your head once and for all, my simple and very fainthearted fellow, that what fools call humanness is nothing but a weakness born of fear and egoism; that this chimerical virtue, enslaving only weak men, is unknown to those whose character is formed by stoicism, courage, and philosophy.

  Marquis de Sade

  Philosophy, Character, Simple

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• If you do not want to explore an egoism you should not read autobiography.

  H. G. Wells

  Want, Should, Autobiography

  H. G. Wells (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of H. G. Wells”, p.16948, Delphi Classics

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• Our German language has a word which in a magnificent way denotes conduct based on this spirit: doing one's duty [Pflichterfüllung]-which means serving the community instead of contenting oneself. We have a word for the basic disposition which underlies conduct of this kind in contrast to egoism and selfishness-idealism. By 'idealism' we mean only the ability of the individual to sacrifice himself for the whole, for his fellow men.

  Adolf Hitler

  Mean, Sacrifice, Men

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• All religions teach one basic discipline - the removal from the mind of the blemish of egoism, of running after little joys.

  Sathya Sai Baba

  Running, Discipline, Joy

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• Nature admits of no permanence in the relation between man and woman. It is only man's egoism that wants to keep woman like some buried treasure. All endeavors to introduce permanence in love, the most changeable thing in this changeable human existence, have gone shipwreck in spite of religious ceremonies, vows, and legalities.

  Leopold von Sacher-Masoch

  Marriage, Religious, Men

  Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (2015). “Venus in Furs”, p.29, Cosimo Classics

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• If selfishness is the key to being miserable, then selflessness must be the key to being happy!

  Joyce Meyer

  Happy, Keys, Selfishness

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• It's no accident that capitalism has brought with it progress, not merely in production but also in knowledge. Egoism and competition are, alas, stronger forces than public spirit and sense of duty.

  Albert Einstein

  Competition, Stronger, Progress

  Albert Einstein (2016). “The Albert Einstein Collection: Essays in Humanism, The Theory of Relativity, and The World As I See It”, p.208, Open Road Media

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• I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves. An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls.

  Albert Einstein

  Atheist, Soul, Wish

  Albert Einstein (2011). “The World As I See It”, p.15, Open Road Media

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• A compassionate attitude helps you communicate more easily with your fellow human beings. As a result, you make more genuine friends and the atmosphere around you is more positive, which gives you greater inner strength. This inner strength helps you spontaneously concern yourself with others, instead of thinking only about yourself.

  Dalai Lama

  Attitude, Thinking, Genuine Friends

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• Accept the long night patiently, quietly, humbly, and resignedly as intended for your true good. It is not a punishment for sin committed but an instrument of annihilating egoism.

  Paul Brunton

  Night, Punishment, Long

  Paul Brunton (1988). “Advanced contemplation: The peace within you”, Larson Pubn

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• It is precisely our egoism, our self-centeredness and self-love that cause all our difficulties, our lack of freedom in suffering, our disappointments and our anguish of soul and body.

  Tito Colliander

  Disappointment, Self, Soul And Body

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• The Ego is an exquisite instrument. Enjoy it, use it--just don't get lost in it.

  This is quotes copyright © By Pumpkin Limited

  Ram Dass

  Spiritual, Wisdom, Ego

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• In brief, egoism in its modern interpretation, is the antithesis, not of altruism, but of idealism.

  John Buchanan Robinson

  Modern, Idealism And Realism, Interpretation

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• We may say with truth and meaning, that governments are more or less republican, as they have more or less of the element of popular election and control in their composition; and believing as I do, that the mass of the citizens is the safest depository of their own rights and especially that the evils flowing from the duperies of the people are less injurious than those from the egoism of their agents, I am a friend to that composition of government which has in it the most of this ingredient.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Believe, Rights, Government

  Thomas Jefferson, H. A. Washington (2011). “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being His Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and Private”, p.608, Cambridge University Press

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• I have been judged to be a pessimist but what abyss of ignorance and low egoism is not hidden in one who thinks that Man is the god of himself and that his future can only be triumphant?

  Eugenio Montale

  Ignorance, Men, Thinking

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• There is a sort of jealousy which needs very little fire; it is hardly a passion, but a blight bred in the cloudy, damp despondency of uneasy egoism.

  George Eliot

  Jealousy, Passion, Fire

  George Eliot (1994). “Middlemarch”, p.175, Wordsworth Editions

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