---
title: "1 Burrowing Quotes By Charles W. Chesnutt"
description: "1 Burrowing quotes by Charles W. Chesnutt. Plus more from Charles W. Chesnutt and more Burrowing sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/charles-w-chesnutt-32761_african-american_selfishness-is-the-most-constant-of-huma_1813964.jpg"
---

> [Selfishness is the most constant of human motives. Patriotism, humanity, or the love of God may lead to sporadic outbursts sweep away the heaped-up wrongs of centuries; but they languish at times, while the love of self works on ceaselessly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/selfishness-is-the-most-constant-of-human-motives-patriotism-humanity/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/charles-w-chesnutt-32761_african-american_selfishness-is-the-most-constant-of-huma_1813964.jpg)

## More by Charles W. Chesnutt

> [The workings of the human heart are the profoundest mystery of the universe. One moment they make us despair of our kind, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/the-workings-of-the-human-heart-are-the-profoundest-mystery-of-the/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [We are all puppets in the hands of fate and seldom see the strings...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/we-are-all-puppets-in-the-hands-of-fate-and-seldom-see-the-strings/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [Race prejudice is the devil unchained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/race-prejudice-is-the-devil-unchained/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [I think I must write a book. It has been my cherished dream and I feel an influence that I cannot resist calling me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/i-think-i-must-write-a-book-it-has-been-my-cherished-dream-and-i-feel/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [We make our customs lightly; once made, like our sins, they grip us in bands of steel; we become the creatures of our creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/we-make-our-customs-lightly-once-made-like-our-sins-they-grip-us-in/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [Selfishness is the most constant of human motives. Patriotism, humanity, or the love of God may lead to sporadic outbursts sweep away the heaped-up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/selfishness-is-the-most-constant-of-human-motives-patriotism-humanity/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [“When it is said that it was done to please a woman, there ought perhaps to be enough to explain anything; for what a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/when-it-is-said-that-it-was-done-to-please-a-woman-there-ought/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [Time touches all things with a destroying hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/time-touches-all-things-with-a-destroying-hand/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [Those that set in motion the forces of evil cannot always control them afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/those-that-set-in-motion-the-forces-of-evil-cannot-always-control/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [Impossibilities are merely things of which we have not learned, or which we do not wish to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/impossibilities-are-merely-things-of-which-we-have-not-learned-or/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [Sins, like chickens, come home to roost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/sins-like-chickens-come-home-to-roost/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [The workings of the human heart are the profoundest mystery of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/the-workings-of-the-human-heart-are-the-profoundest-mystery-of-the-2/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [We sometimes underestimate the influence of little things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/we-sometimes-underestimate-the-influence-of-little-things/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [As man sows, so shall he reap. In works of fiction, such men are sometimes converted. More often, in real life, they do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/as-man-sows-so-shall-he-reap-in-works-of-fiction-such-men-are/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

> [There are sordid souls that eat and drink and breed and die, and imagine they have lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/there-are-sordid-souls-that-eat-and-drink-and-breed-and-die-and/)

[Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/)

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