Self-interest, or rather self-love, or egoism, has been more plausibly substituted as the basis of morality. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
He is led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
“Nobody does anything for the good of others; but as he pursues his own interests, he is brought to work unwittingly for… — Bangambiki Habyarimana Copy Share Image
There are few things on which we can pass a sincere judgement, because there are few things in which we have not,… — Michel de Montaigne Copy Share Image
The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly… — Karl Marx Copy Share Image
Perhaps the most powerful lesson other brands can learn from Nike is the need to act in accordance with the reality of… — Simon Mainwaring Copy Share Image
Still, even the most admirable of atheists is nothing more than a moral parasite, living his life based on borrowed ethics. This… — Theodore Beale Copy Share Image
I was induced to establish several orders of merit, from conviction that emulation, well directed, becomes a useful servant; and, that the… — Joseph Lancaster Copy Share Image
“He [Eugène Rougon] believed exclusively in himself; where another saw reasons, Rougon possessed convictions; he subordinated everything to the incessant aggrandisement of… — Émile Zola Copy Share Image
Self-interest is the most ingenious and persuasive of all the agents that deceive our consciences, while by means of it our unhappy… — William C. Bryant Copy Share Image
What proposition is there respecting human nature which is absolutely and universally true? We know of only one,--and that is not only… — Thomas B. Macaulay Copy Share Image
In the business world, everyone is always working at legitimate cross purposes, governed by self interest. — Harold Geneen Copy Share Image
What makes us want to know the worst? Is it that we tire of preferring to know the best? Does curiosity always… — Julian Barnes Copy Share Image
Self-interest makes some people blind, and others sharp-sighted. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
The dynamo of our economic system is self-interest which may range from mere petty greed to admirable types of self-expression. — Felix Frankfurter Copy Share Image
Whatever pretended causes we may blame our afflictions upon, it is often nothing but self-interest and vanity that produce them. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
Attacking the indecency of life in much of the Southern Hemisphere is no longer a matter of grace, of charity, of patronizing… — Anthony Lewis Copy Share Image
I definitely have a shareholders' perspective. I'm not doing that altruistically. I'm doing that because it's in my own self interest to… — Harold Simmons Copy Share Image
The selfless love that we give to others, to the point of being willing to sacrifice our lives for them, is all… — Dean Koontz Copy Share Image
“It always seemed strange to me that the things we admire in men: kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are… — John Steinbeck Copy Share Image
To set aside one’s prejudices, one’s present needs, and one’s own self interest in making a decision as a director for a… — Mervyn King Copy Share Image
It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from regard… — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
Virtues lose themselves in self-interest, as rivers in the sea. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
