Selfishness Quotes - Page 23

• Wisdom means that it gives you detachment, detachment from all that is selfishness, self-centredness, self-obsession, ego - all connected with self.

  Nirmala Srivastava

  Love, Wisdom, Yoga

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• I catch myself thinking 'Thank God For This' out of habit, and then I understand what he's so concerned about. What if my parents' God, their whole belief system, is just something concocted by a bunch of scientists to keep us under control? And not just their beliefs about God and whatever else is out there, about right and wrong, about selfishness?

  Veronica Roth

  Thinking, Parent, What If

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• At the time of his death, Biko had a wife and three children for which he left a letter that stated in one part: “I've devoted my life to see equality for blacks, and at the same time, I've denied the needs of my family. Please understand that I take these actions, not out of selfishness or arrogance, but to preserve a South Africa worth living in for blacks and whites.

  Steven Biko

  Children, Wife, Arrogance

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• I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism, by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself.

  Napoleon Hill

  Attitude, Believe, Envy

  Napoleon Hill (2015). “Think and grow rich: Brazilian edition”, p.48, CDG Edições e Publicações LTDA

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• There are so many ways a family can unravel. All it takes is a tiny slash of selfishness, a rip of greed, a puncture of bad luck. And yet, woven tightly, family can be the strongest bond imaginable.

  Jodi Picoult

  Rip, Greed, Luck

  Jodi Picoult (2013). “The Storyteller”, p.456, Simon and Schuster

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• Mundus vult decipi'—the world wants to be deceived. To live without deception presupposes standards beyond the reach of most people whose existence is largely shaped by compromise, evasion and mutual accommodation. Could they face their weakness, their vanity and selfishness, without a mask?

  Abraham Joshua Heschel

  Vanity, People, Deception

  Abraham Joshua Heschel (1973). “A Passion for Truth”, p.190, Macmillan

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• Selfishness is the bedrock on which all moral behavior starts and it can be immoral only when it conflicts with a higher moral imperative.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Moral Behavior, Conflict, Higher

  "The Pragmatics of Patriotism". Address at the U.S. Naval Academy, April 5, 1973.

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• Selflessness is like waiting in a hospital
  In a badly-fitting suit on a cold wet morning.
  Selfishness is like listening to good jazz
  With drinks for further orders and a huge fire.

  Philip Larkin

  Love, Morning, Fire

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• A narcissist society, in which each person is busy looking out for number one, can build neither brotherhood nor community. Aren't we glad in this Easter season and in all seasons that Jesus did not selfishly look out for number one? No wonder we have been told, 'Thou shalt have no other gods
  before me,' and this includes self-worship! (Ex. 20:3; emphasis added). One way or another, the grossly selfish will finally be shattered, whimpering, against the jagged, concrete consequences of their selfishness.

  Neal A. Maxwell

  Jesus, Easter, Selfish

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• When we accept Christ we enter into three new relationships: (1) We enter into a new relationship with God. The judge becomes the father; the distant becomes the near; strangeness becomes intimacy and fear becomes love. (2) We enter into a new relationship with our fellow men. Hatred becomes love; selfishness becomes service; and bitterness becomes forgiveness. (3) We enter into a new relationship with ourselves. Weakness becomes strength; frustration becomes achievement; and tension becomes peace.

  William Barclay

  Spiritual, Father, New Relationship

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• To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect on me is to live on the doorstep of hell. Selfishness is doomed to frustration centered as it is upon a lie. To live exclusively for myself, I must make all things bend themselves to my will as if I were a god.

  Thomas Merton

  Spiritual, Lying, Frustration

  Thomas Merton (2005). “No Man is an Island”, p.24, Shambhala Publications

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• Competition, which is the instinct of selfishness, is another word for dissipation of energy, while combination is the secret of efficient production.

  Edward Bellamy

  Competition, Secret, Energy

  Edward Bellamy (2000). “Looking Backward: From 2000 to 1887”, p.158, Applewood Books

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• I feel now, that Arabia could easily be evangelized within the next thirty years if it were not for the wicked selfishness of Christians.

  Samuel Marinus Zwemer

  Christian, Religious, Years

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• Maternity is on the face of it an unsociable experience. The selfishness that a woman has learned to stifle or to dissemble where she alone is concerned, blooms freely and unashamed on behalf of her offspring.

  Emily James Smith Putnam

  Mother, Faces, Maternity

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• The most difficult thing for us seems to be to give of ourselves, to do away with selfishness. If we really love someone, nothing is too difficult for us to do for that individual. There is no real happiness in having or getting unless we are doing it for the purpose of giving it to others. Half the world seems to be following the wrong scent in the pursuit of happiness-many think it consists of having and getting and being served, when really happiness is found in serving others.

  Nathan Eldon Tanner

  Selfish, Real, Pursuit Of Happiness

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• Day and night, and every moment, there are voices about us. All the hours speak as they pass; and in every event there is a message to us; and all our circumstances talk with us; but it is in Divine language, that worldliness misunderstands, that selfishness is frightened at, and that only the children of God hear rightly and happily.

  William Mountford

  God, Children, Night

  William Mountford (1874). “Euthanasy: Or, Happy Talk Towards the End of Life”, p.503

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• There are points in your life, especially if you have creative ambitions, where selfishness is necessary.

  Kris Kristofferson

  Ambition, Creative, Ifs

  "Kris Kristofferson: What I've Learned" by Scott Carrier, www.esquire.com. January 29, 2007.

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• Self-interest is not myopic selfishness. It is whatever it is that interests the participants, whatever they value, whatever goals they pursue. The scientist seeking to advance the frontiers of his discipline, the missionary seeking to convert infidels to the true faith, the philanthropist seeking to bring comfort to the needy - all are pursuing their interests, as they see them, as they judge them by their own values.

  Milton Friedman

  Self, Discipline, Goal

  Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman (1990). “Free to Choose: A Personal Statement”, p.45, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• We cannot doubt that self-interest is the mainspring of human nature. It must be clearly understood that this word is used here to designate a universal, incontestable fact, resulting from the nature of man, and not an adverse judgment, as would be the word selfishness.

  Frederic Bastiat

  Men, Self, Doubt

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• If faith is lacking, it is because there is too much selfishness, too much concern for personal gain. For faith to be true, it has to be generous and loving. Love and faith go together, they complete each other.

  Mother Teresa

  Faith, Together, Too Much

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• We receive mixed messages about taking good care of ourselves. Love thy neighbor as thyself means to love thyself and thy neighbor. Yet, self-love often is confused with selfishness and conceit. We are selfish when we do not love and accept ourselves, and attempt to take from others to fill the emptiness. Conceit indicates low self-worth and an attempt to conceal it. It is difficult to extend to others what you have not been able to give yourself. Take good care of yourself so you can care about the rest of us.

  Jennifer James

  Confused, Selfish, Love You

  Jennifer James (1986). “Success Is the Quality of Your Journey”, William Morrow Paperbacks

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• We can pay the ecological debt by changing economic models, and by giving up luxury consumption, setting aside selfishness and individualism, and thinking about the people and the planet Earth.

  Evo Morales

  Giving Up, Thinking, Luxury

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• Politics is not an end, but a means. It is not a product, but a process. It is the art of government. Like other values it has its counterfeits. So much emphasis has been placed upon the false that the significance of the true has been obscured and politics has come to convey the meaning of crafty and cunning selfishness, instead of candid and sincere service.

  Calvin Coolidge

  Art, Mean, Government

  Calvin Coolidge (1924). “Calvin Coolidge, His Ideals of Citizenship as Revealed Through His Speeches and Writings”

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• Every moral act of love, of mercy, and of sacrifice brings to pass the end of the world where hatred, cruelty, and selfishness reign supreme.

  Nikolai Berdyaev

  Sacrifice, Hatred, World

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• Why all of these broken homes? What happens to marriages that begin with sincere love and a desire to be loyal and faithful and true one to another? There is no simple answer. I acknowledge that. But it appears to me that there are some obvious reasons that account for a very high percentage of these problems. I say this out of experience in dealing with such tragedies. I find selfishness to be the root cause of most of it.

  Gordon B. Hinckley

  Home, Simple, Loyal And Faithful

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