Philosophy Quote by Leo Tolstoy

Whenever there is a conflict between universal principles and self-interest, self-interest is likely to prevail.

— George Soros

“If life is a process of self-sustaining action, then this is the distinctly human mode of action and survival: to think--to produce--to meet the…

— Ayn Rand

The most altruistic and sustainable philosophies fail before the brute brain stem imperative of self-interest.

— Peter Watts

Self-preservation is the first principle of our nature.

— Alexander Hamilton

“Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today. For thirty years we have made a virtue out of the pursuit of material…

— Tony Judt

“A man reduced to despair by a series of misfortunes feels wearied of life, but is still so far in possession of his reason…

— Immanuel Kant

Self-interest is but the survival of the animal in us. Humanity only begins for man with self-surrender.

— Henri Frederic Amiel

“Man is not a solitary animal, and so long as social Life survives, self-realization cannot be the supreme principle of ethics.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Unless people have a vision of something beyond the bounds of their own natures, they cannot transcend their self-interest.”

— Patrick M. Garry

“Self is All. (First Principle of Humanism)”

— Abhijit Naskar

“Interest without purpose is nearly impossible to sustain for a lifetime.”

— Angela Duckworth

The theory that everyone acts from self-interest, direct or indirect, is psychologically unsound. . . . Throughout history . . . there have been…

— Corliss Lamont