--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What proposition is there respecting…" description: "\"What proposition is there respecting human nature which is absolutely and universally true? We know of only one,--and that is not only true, but identi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eac/thomas-b-macaulay-1980_human-nature_what-proposition-is-there-respecting-hum_847124.png" --- # What proposition is there respecting human nature which is… ![“What proposition is there respecting human nature which is absolutely and universally true? We know of only one,--and that is not only true, but identical,--that men always act from self-interest.” quote by Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eac/thomas-b-macaulay-1980_human-nature_what-proposition-is-there-respecting-hum_847124.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eac/thomas-b-macaulay-1980_human-nature_what-proposition-is-there-respecting-hum_847124.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eac/thomas-b-macaulay-1980_human-nature_what-proposition-is-there-respecting-hum_847124.png) > “What proposition is there respecting human nature which is absolutely and universally true? We know of only one,--and that is not only true, but identical,--that men always act from self-interest.” [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human actions are fundamentally driven by self‑interest, a universal truth across contexts. **In simple terms:** People act out of self‑interest. Key Takeaway Recognize self‑interest in motives. Themes human nature self‑interest ethics Mood analytical critical Type philosophical academic When to use this quote - business negotiations - political campaigns - personal relationships Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does self‑interest shape your decisions? - When have you acted altruistically? A Different Perspective Ignoring altruism can oversimplify behavior. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Identical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identical/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Proposition Respecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proposition-respecting-709108/) [Propositions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propositions/) [Respecting Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respecting-human-709109/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-interest/) [Universally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universally/) [Universally True](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universally-true-378906/) ## Related quotes > [That man is a religious being, is universally conceded, for it has been seen to be universally true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-greenleaf/that-man-is-a-religious-being-is-universally-conceded-for-it-has-been/) [Simon Greenleaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-greenleaf/) > [“Only one statement about life is universally true: It's going to end badly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evans-light/only-one-statement-about-life-is-universally-true-it-s-going-to-end/) [Evans Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evans-light/) > [If any thing can be predicated as universally true of uncultivated man, it is that he will not labour beyond what is absolutely necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/if-any-thing-can-be-predicated-as-universally-true-of-uncultivated/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“The goal of any self-respecting human being tolerant of others is to favor anything that increases a person's ability to control her own fate,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/the-goal-of-any-self-respecting-human-being-tolerant-of-others-is-to/) [John R. 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Macaulay > [A beggarly people, A church and no steeple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/a-beggarly-people-a-church-and-no-steeple/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [We must judge a government by its general tendencies and not by its happy accidents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/we-must-judge-a-government-by-its-general-tendencies-and-not-by-its/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [None of the modes by which a magistrate is appointed, popular election, the accident of the lot, or the accident of birth, affords, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/none-of-the-modes-by-which-a-magistrate-is-appointed-popular-election/) [Thomas B. 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Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Oh, wherefore come ye forth in triumph from the north, With your hands, and your feet, and your raiment all red? And wherefore doth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/oh-wherefore-come-ye-forth-in-triumph-from-the-north-with-your-hands/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say that all the historical information which has been collected in the Sanskrit language is less valuable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/it-is-i-believe-no-exaggeration-to-say-that-all-the-historical/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Ambrose Phillips . . . who had the honor of bringing into fashion a species of composition which has been called, after his name, Namby Pamby.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/ambrose-phillips-who-had-the-honor-of-bringing-into-fashion-a-species/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [In the infancy of civilization, when our island was as savage as New Guinea, when letters and arts were still unknown to Athens, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/in-the-infancy-of-civilization-when-our-island-was-as-savage-as-new/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [In truth it may be laid down as an almost universal rule that good poets are bad critics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/in-truth-it-may-be-laid-down-as-an-almost-universal-rule-that-good/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [He had a head which statuaries loved to copy, and a foot the deformity of which the beggars in the streets mimicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/he-had-a-head-which-statuaries-loved-to-copy-and-a-foot-the-deformity/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [The Spartan, smiting and spurning the wretched Helot, moves our disgust. But the same Spartan, calmly dressing his hair, and uttering his concise jests,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/the-spartan-smiting-and-spurning-the-wretched-helot-moves-our-disgust/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) [Explore all 193 Thomas B. Macaulay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) ## More Human nature quotes > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“The aristocratic interiority is centered on the higher mind, the mens, the ajna chakra, the seat of intellect and intuition that commands the lower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-evola/the-aristocratic-interiority-is-centered-on-the-higher-mind-the-mens/) [Julius Evola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-evola/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. 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