"By self-interest, Man has become gregarious, but in……" — Bertrand Russell
"By self-interest, Man has become gregarious, but in instinct he has remained to a great extent solitary; hence the need of religion and morality to reinforce self-interest."
Related Quotes
- I see no clear reason why the doctrine of self-interest properly understood should turn men away from religious beliefs. — Alexis de Tocqueville
- It contributes greatly towards a man's moral and intellectual health, to be brought into habits of companionship with individuals unlike… — Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Man is kind enough when he is not excited by religion — Mark Twain
- I shall not fear to say that the doctrine of self-interest rightly understood seems to me of all the philosophic… — Alexis de Tocqueville
- Self-interest is but the survival of the animal in us. Humanity only begins for man with self-surrender. — Henri Frederic Amiel
- Each man must live as an end in himself and follow his own rational self-interest. — Ayn Rand
- If a man needs a religion to conduct himself properly in this world, it is a sign that he has… — Ninon de L'Enclos
- Self-interest, or rather self-love, or egoism, has been more plausibly substituted as the basis of morality. — Thomas Jefferson
- Man is naturally a religious being. His heart instinctively seeks for God whether he reverences the sacred cow or prays… — Spencer W. Kimball
- Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.' He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage. — Robert A. Heinlein
824 Quotes by Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell has 824 quotes on this site. A few more worth reading:
- That the world is in a bad shape is undeniable, but there is not the faintest reason in history to…
- I do not pretend to be able to prove that there is no God. I equally cannot prove that Satan…
- If I were a medical man, I should prescribe a holiday to any patient who considered his work important.
- But if thought is to become the possession of many, not the privilege of the few, we must have done…
- This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the second…
- One must expect a war between U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. which will begin with the total destruction of London. I think…
- Power is sweet; it is a drug, the desire for which increases with a habit.
- The desire to understand the world and the desire to reform it are the two great engines of progress, without…
- Life is just one cup of coffee after another, and don't look for anything else.
- Almost all education has a political motive: it aims at strengthening some group, national or religious or even social, in…
- Drunkeness is temporary suicide: the happiness that it brings is merely negative, a momentary cessation of unhappiness.
- Either man will abolish war, or war will abolish man.