--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.'…" description: "\"Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.' He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage.\" — Robert A. Heinlein" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da9/robert-a-heinlein-209_appeals_never-appeal-to-a-man-s-better-nature-he_1783600.jpg" --- # Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.' He may not have… ![“Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.' He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage.” quote by Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da9/robert-a-heinlein-209_appeals_never-appeal-to-a-man-s-better-nature-he_1783600.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da9/robert-a-heinlein-209_appeals_never-appeal-to-a-man-s-better-nature-he_1783600.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da9/robert-a-heinlein-209_appeals_never-appeal-to-a-man-s-better-nature-he_1783600.jpg) > “Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.' He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage.” [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Appealing to a man's self-interest is more effective than assuming altruism, as he may lack a 'better nature.' **In simple terms:** Use self-interest, not idealism. Key Takeaway Leverage personal gain for influence. Themes strategy human nature politics realism Mood cautious analytical Type strategic pragmatic When to use this quote - negotiations - leadership - conflict resolution - marketing Key Concepts self-interest psychology power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What motivates the person you influence? - When is appeal to better nature appropriate? A Different Perspective May ignore genuine altruistic motives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-interest/) ## Related quotes > [Self knowledge puts us on our knees, and it is very necessary for love. For knowledge of God gives love, and knowledge of self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/self-knowledge-puts-us-on-our-knees-and-it-is-very-necessary-for-love/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [When you make people a lot of money, it gives you leverage in Hollywood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-w-s-anderson/when-you-make-people-a-lot-of-money-it-gives-you-leverage-in-hollywood/) [Paul W. S. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-w-s-anderson/) > [My own perception was that although it kind of sucks to be stuck in a contract you signed a long time ago, when you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slim-moon/my-own-perception-was-that-although-it-kind-of-sucks-to-be-stuck-in-a/) [Slim Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slim-moon/) > [“In the nineteenth century, The Romantics viewed Nature as benign, a glowing reflection of God's grace. Now we know better. Nature is brutal and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-yancey/in-the-nineteenth-century-the-romantics-viewed-nature-as-benign-a/) Richard Yancey > [“My artificial creations will be better than nature's natural creations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/my-artificial-creations-will-be-better-than-nature-s-natural-creations/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > ['Star Trek' seems to be an appeal to our better nature, the side of ourselves that works toward peace and cooperation and understanding and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cho/star-trek-seems-to-be-an-appeal-to-our-better-nature-the-side-of/) [John Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cho/) > [I have heard painters acknowledge, though in that acknowledgment no degradation of themselves was intended, that they could do better without nature than with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/i-have-heard-painters-acknowledge-though-in-that-acknowledgment-no/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [Nothing better more than nature women without make up on. beautiful...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hayek/nothing-better-more-than-nature-women-without-make-up-on-beautiful/) [Joe Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hayek/) > [“What if our better nature wasn't better after all? But was instead, well, just nature?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-dutton/what-if-our-better-nature-wasn-t-better-after-all-but-was-instead/) [Kevin Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-dutton/) > [The greatest productive force is human selfishness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-greatest-productive-force-is-human-selfishness/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [I don't trust a man who talks about ethics when he is picking my pocket. But if he is acting in his own self-interest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-don-t-trust-a-man-who-talks-about-ethics-when-he-is-picking-my/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [The basic of all morality is duty, a concept with the same relation to group that self-interest has to individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-basic-of-all-morality-is-duty-a-concept-with-the-same-relation-to/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [What is supposed to happen in a democracy is that each sovereign citizen will always vote in the public interest for the safety and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/what-is-supposed-to-happen-in-a-democracy-is-that-each-sovereign/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [God created man, but I could do better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/god-created-man-but-i-could-do-better/) [Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/) > [“Falsehood of a good man is better than truth of a bad one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/falsehood-of-a-good-man-is-better-than-truth-of-a-bad-one/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) ## More by Robert A. Heinlein > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ninety-percent-of-all-human-wisdom-is-the-ability-to-mind-your-own/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-blow-ourselves-up-we-will-do-it-by-misapplication-of-science-if/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Nor would anybody suspect. If was one thing all people took for granted, was conviction that if you feed honest figures into a computer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/nor-would-anybody-suspect-if-was-one-thing-all-people-took-for/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Women will forgive anything. Otherwise, the race would have died out long ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/women-will-forgive-anything-otherwise-the-race-would-have-died-out/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/most-neuroses-and-some-psychoses-can-be-traced-to-the-unnecessary-and/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/no-statement-should-be-believed-because-it-is-made-by-an-authority/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-instinct-to-survive-is-human-nature-itself-and-every-aspect-of/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“I tried to dig out of the computer a call directory for Luna. But it was still sulking. I could not get it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-tried-to-dig-out-of-the-computer-a-call-directory-for-luna-but-it/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“this has more aspects than a cat has hair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/this-has-more-aspects-than-a-cat-has-hair/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Never own more than you can carry in both hands at a dead run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-own-more-than-you-can-carry-in-both-hands-at-a-dead-run/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“In Wilson's scale of evaluations breakfast rated just after life itself and ahead of the chance of immortality." ~ By His Bootstraps / Robert A. Heinlein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/in-wilson-s-scale-of-evaluations-breakfast-rated-just-after-life/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ignorance-is-curable-stupid-is-forever/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Explore all 888 Robert A. Heinlein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## More Appeals quotes > [Quotations can be valuable, like raisins in the rice pudding, for adding iron as well as eye appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/quotations-can-be-valuable-like-raisins-in-the-rice-pudding-for/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [If Robert Heinlein is more to your taste than George Lucas: “If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-drum/if-robert-heinlein-is-more-to-your-taste-than-george-lucas-if-you-are/) [Kevin Drum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-drum/) > [All the cliches of glamorous sophistication have little appeal to me. Do I want to live the British version of 'Dynasty?' No thanks!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sade-adu/all-the-cliches-of-glamorous-sophistication-have-little-appeal-to-me/) [Sade Adu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sade-adu/) > [It's an appeal as old as America and its presidency: This is an extraordinary country populated by hard-working, big-dreaming, freedom-loving people graced by God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-fournier/it-s-an-appeal-as-old-as-america-and-its-presidency-this-is-an/) [Ron Fournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-fournier/) > [I liked wrestling a lot better than boxing. I remember thinking at that time that wrestling was a pure demonstration of strength, which I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-carpenter/i-liked-wrestling-a-lot-better-than-boxing-i-remember-thinking-at/) [Scott Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-carpenter/) > [As a social and as a personal force, religion has become a dependent variable. It does not originate; it reacts. It does not denounce;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-wright-mills/as-a-social-and-as-a-personal-force-religion-has-become-a-dependent/) [C. Wright Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-wright-mills/) > [The ascent of any route begins, in dreams at least, the autumn before. Our minds ring, involuntarily, with the alluring names of mountains, aiguilles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-rebuffat/the-ascent-of-any-route-begins-in-dreams-at-least-the-autumn-before/) [Gaston Rebuffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-rebuffat/) > [I sometimes find that my family's emphasis on stories, characters, and art that appeals directly to children rather than over their heads to adults…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-berenstain/i-sometimes-find-that-my-family-s-emphasis-on-stories-characters-and/) [Mike Berenstain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-berenstain/) > [Vice is its own reward. It is virtue which, if it is to be marketed with consumer appeal, must carry Green Shield stamps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-crisp/vice-is-its-own-reward-it-is-virtue-which-if-it-is-to-be-marketed/) [Quentin Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-crisp/) > [In my early teens, science fiction and fantasy had an almost-total hold over my imagination. Their outcast status was part of their appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/in-my-early-teens-science-fiction-and-fantasy-had-an-almost-total/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [The fact is that there is a profound spiritual hunger in the western world which, for a variety of reasons, its church is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-phillips/the-fact-is-that-there-is-a-profound-spiritual-hunger-in-the-western/) [Melanie Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-phillips/) > [People can talk about punk all they want, but after new wave put that down, metal is the voice of the disenfranchised and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-taylor/people-can-talk-about-punk-all-they-want-but-after-new-wave-put-that/) [Corey Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-taylor/) > [Appeal to all scholars of stupidity in the world. Come to Italy, this country has the highest rate of morons of the universe, especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-brown/appeal-to-all-scholars-of-stupidity-in-the-world-come-to-italy-this/) [William C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/) > [Popular thought appeals to crowds, gatherings and tribes, who use it as a way to guide the herd. It is very evident in protests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-taylor/popular-thought-appeals-to-crowds-gatherings-and-tribes-who-use-it-as/) [Corey Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-taylor/) > [It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble. An animal perfectly in harmony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-law-of-nature-we-overlook-that-intellectual-versatility-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 1,420 Appeals quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.' He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. Heinlein" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-appeal-to-a-man-s-better-nature-he-may-not-have-one-invoking/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Appeals" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-appeal-to-a-man-s-better-nature-he-may-not-have-one-invoking/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da9/robert-a-heinlein-209_appeals_never-appeal-to-a-man-s-better-nature-he_1783600.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da9/robert-a-heinlein-209_appeals_never-appeal-to-a-man-s-better-nature-he_1783600.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da9/robert-a-heinlein-209_appeals_never-appeal-to-a-man-s-better-nature-he_1783600.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.' He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more…” — Robert A. Heinlein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert A. Heinlein", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Never appeal to a man's 'better...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-appeal-to-a-man-s-better-nature-he-may-not-have-one-invoking/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-appeal-to-a-man-s-better-nature-he-may-not-have-one-invoking/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```