Haile Selassie Quotes

There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.

A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.

The whole history of the world has been the struggle between the selfish and the unselfish.

Human history is the sad result of each one looking out for himself.

Human beings place their desires ahead of the collective good.

When men organize themselves into groups, and they make rules based on common or self-interest, it's always tangled and political.

Men err from selfishness; women because they are weak.

Man is essentially a selfish creature. The differences in the degree with which this developed are infinite.

During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.

Human nature is such that people are born with a love of profit If they follow these inclinations, they will struggle and snatch from each other, and inclinations to defer or yield will die.

Fear, prejudice, malice, and the love of approbation bribe a thousand men where gold bribes one.

Greed is a basic part of animal nature. Being against it is like being against breathing or eating. It means nothing.

And I like to keep whatever is mine remaining that way. It's a funny little game to play and it's a slippery slope. I always say to myself I'm never going to give anything away because there's never any point or benefit for me.

Men are not against you; they are merely for themselves.

If you really think that ambition, power, lust, desire are not as applicable in the media as in politics or on Wall Street or anywhere else, you're deluding yourself.

Each man seeks his own interest, not the general interest. Let his own selfish interests be touched, and all concord is at an end.

Man is a predatory animal, and this aspect of his nature is nowhere better suited by environment than in the world of politics.

When self-interested motives are strengthened by the apprehension of any danger, there are few persons who will not be induced by them to betray even their best friend.

The instinct of ownership is fundamental in man’s nature.

Aging leaders have put their own survival ahead of their reason for being and above that of the institution they serve.

That spirit of freedom, which at the commencement of this contest would have gladly sacrificed everything to the attainment of its object, has long since subsided, and every selfish passion has taken its place. It is not the public, but private interest, which influences the generality of mankind, nor can the Americans any longer boast an exception. Under these circumstances it would rather have been surprising if you had succeeded.

Why do men go to war? Is it not in some way to better their condition. All these new fangled notions that men fight for other things than their own personal advantage is pure delusion. It is the solid things of life that men are ever after, though some of them haven't the courage to admit it. What is love of country but love of it's good things?

In contriving any system of government, and fixing the several checks and controls of the constitution, every man ought to be supposed a knave, and to have no other end, in all his actions, than private interest.

The common class of mankind are actuated by no nobler principle than that of self-interest; this and this alone determines all adventurers in privateers: the owners, as well as those whom they employ.

People always choose self-preservation over the greater good, most of the time, with the belief that self-preservation is the greater good.