Selfish Quotes - Page 14

• All sensible people are selfish, and nature is tugging at every contract to make the terms of it fair.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Nature, People, Tugging

  'The Conduct of Life' (1860) 'Considerations by the way'

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• Neither fear nor self-interest can convert the soul. They may change the appearance, perhaps even the conduct, but never the object of supreme desire... Fear is the motive which constrains the slave; greed binds the selfish man, by which he is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed (James 1:14). But neither fear nor self-interest is undefiled, nor can they convert the soul. Only charity can convert the soul, freeing it from unworthy motives.

  Bernard of Clairvaux

  Fear, Men, Greed

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• A woman has got to be able to say, and not feel guilty,
  'Who am I, and what do I want out of life?' She mustn't
  feel selfish and neurotic if she wants goals of her own,
  outside of husband and children.

  Betty Friedan

  Children, Husband, Goal

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• Some legislators only wish to vengeance against a particular enemy. Others only look out for themselves. They devote very little time on the consideration of any public issue. They think that no harm will come from their neglect. They act as if it is always the business of somebody else to look after this or that. When this selfish notion is entertained by all, the commonwealth slowly begins to decay.

  Thucydides

  Thinking, Issues, Enemy

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• It is just as foolish to complain that people are selfish and treacherous as it is to complain that the magnetic field does not increase unless the electric field has a curl. Both are laws of nature.

  John von Neumann

  Law, People, Curls

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• Good travels at a snail's pace. Those who want to do good are not selfish, they are not in a hurry, they know that to impregnate people with good requires a long time.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Long, People, Pace

  Mahatma Gandhi, Rudrangshu Mukherjee (1993). “The Penguin Gandhi Reader”, p.24, Penguin Books India

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• We just played unselfishly. At times this year, we've played selfish, but today we passed the ball. ... We were just very supportive of each other.

  Rajon Rondo

  Years, Supportive, Balls

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• Let us be today's Christians. Let us not take fright at the boldness of today's church. With Christ's light let us illuminate even the most hideous caverns of the human person: torture, jail, plunder, want, chronic illness. The oppressed must be saved, not with a revolutionary salvation, in mere human fashion, but with the holy revolution of the Son of Man, who dies on the cross to cleanse God's image, which is soiled in today's humanity, a humanity so enslaved, so selfish, so sinful.

  Oscar Romero

  Christian, Fashion, Inspiration

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• A technique can only work if it is in harmony with universal principles. Such principles need to be grasped through Mind, pure consciousness. Selfish desires thwart your progress, but Mind, not captivated by notions of victory or defeat, will liberate you. Mind fixes your senses and keeps you centered. Mind is the key to wondrous power and supreme clarity.

  Morihei Ueshiba

  Keys, Track, Mind

  Morihei Ueshiba, John Stevens (2010). “The Art of Peace”, p.103, Shambhala Publications

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• The grossest, the cruelest, the most selfish, the most easily pervertible and perverted thing in this world, is government.

  Henry Ward Beecher

  Government, World, This World

  Henry Ward Beecher (1871). “The Plymouth pulpit. Sermons preached in Plymouth church, Brooklyn”, p.227

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• Forgiveness is almost a selfish act because of its immense benefits to the one who forgives.

  Lawana Blackwell

  Relationship, Forgiveness, Forgiving

  Lawana Blackwell (2008). “The Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark (The Gresham Chronicles Book #3)”, p.433, Baker Books

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• Not by mere eloquence, nor by handsome appearance, does a man become good-natured, should he be jealous, selfish and deceitful.

  Gautama Buddha

  Buddhist, Jealous, Men

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• If you practice Yoga for small, selfish reasons, you will remain the same, bound by your beliefs about what you can and cannot do. Let go and offer your effort to limitless potential. Dedicate yourself to the happiness of all beings.

  Sharon Gannon

  Letting Go, Yoga, Practice

  Sharon Gannon, David Life (2011). “Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body and Soul”, p.179, Ballantine Books

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• Pay attention to the voice within. . . . Sometimes the voice of your conscience gets drowned out by crowd noise or by the pep rally of temptations. And your mind may put some selfish spin on the ball, rationalizing that it's okay to veer away from the ethical route. When we run into conflicts between ethical "shoulds" and our selfish "wants," we all argure out ways to con our conscience. But take pains to listen, because it has your best interests at heart.

  Price Pritchett

  Running, Pain, Heart

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• Moved by their selfish desires, people seek after fame and glory. But when they have acquired it, they are already stricken in years. If you hanker after worldly fame and practise not the Way, your labors are wrongfully applied and your energy is wasted. It is like unto burning an incense stick. However much its pleasing odor be admired, the fire that consumes is steadily burning up the stick.

  Gautama Buddha

  Fire, Years, People

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• Young women especially have something invested in being nice people, and it's only when you have children that you realize you're not a nice person at all, but generally a selfish bully.

  Marjorie Holmes

  Children, Nice, Women

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• I realized that I had granted my illness lordship over me. In viewing my depression as a despot subjecting me to its savage fancies, I was able to escape responsibility, to indulge fully my selfish desire to let my ego flourish unfettered, not obliged to anyone. But this wasn't freedom. It was a prison-a cell separating me from those who cared for me and for whom I might have cared.

  Eric G. Wilson

  Depression, Responsibility, Cells

  Eric G. Wilson (2012). “Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck: Why We Can't Look Away”, p.128, Sarah Crichton Books

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• To say grace, knowing that people on this globe are starving, indicates a highly selfish acquiescence in the arrogantly supposed favoritism of the almighty. A really decent god-believer, far from giving thanks for the food and good health and fortune enjoyed by himself and his family and close friends, would surely curse God for his neglect of the hungry, the sick and the tormented, throughout the world.

  Barbara Smoker

  Knowing, People, Giving

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• Patriotism is the opposite of selfish individualism.

  David Ehrenfeld

  Opposites, Patriotism, Individualism

  David Ehrenfeld (2008). “Becoming Good Ancestors: How We Balance Nature, Community, and Technology”, p.245, Oxford University Press

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• Nothing will make me change my principles. Even with the knife at my neck I shall still declare, up to this day, the poor have done everything; it is time for the rich to take their turn... The selfish people, the young idlers, must be made useful, whether they like it or not, and some respite be procured for the useful and respectable worker.

  Jean-Paul Marat

  Knives, People, Revolution

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• Miracles are everywhere to be found when priesthood callings are magnified. When faith replaces doubt, when selfless service eliminates selfish striving, the power of God brings to pass His purposes. The priesthood is not really so much a gift as it is a commission to serve, a privilege to lift, and an opportunity to bless the lives of others.

  Thomas S. Monson

  Opportunity, Miracle, Doubt

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• The love of money is the source of an enormous amount of good; the fact that the good is a by-product of the selfish pursuit of riches has nothing to do with its indisputable value.

  Leo Rosten

  Money, Riches, Facts

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• Anorexia is such a self-consuming, selfish disease. It's all about you. Becoming a mother, all of a sudden it wasn't about me anymore.

  Tracey Gold

  Mother, Anorexia, Disease

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• In the book, America had already been weakened by bio terror plagues before waves of selfish violence took down the rest. But the real enemy was the kind of male human being who nurses fantasies of violent glory at the expense of his fellow citizens.

  David Brin

  Real, Book, America

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• Heaven would be Hell in no time if every cruel, selfish, vicious soul went to Heaven.

  Anne Rice

  Heaven, Soul, Would Be

  Anne Rice (2013). “The Complete Vampire Chronicles 12-Book Bundle”, p.2825, Ballantine Books

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