Allen West Quotes

I guess because I'm a liberal I think it's not people's natural instinct to be completely self-interested.

People are not considerate of others. They tend not to consider themselves as all living together, but see themselves only as individuals.

Liberals worry that what's best for the individual might not be better for the public at large. But that philosophy assumes something vicious about each and every one of us. It assumes we only care about ourselves.

The most frivolous disaster which could befall himself would occasion a more real disturbance. If he was to lose his little finger to-morrow, he would not sleep to-night; but, provided he never saw them, he will snore with the most profound security over the ruin of a hundred millions of his brethren, and the destruction of that immense multitude seems plainly an object less interesting to him, than this paltry misfortune of his own.

As Americans, we're raised with this idea of, 'We're number one.' As an individual, you absorb and you consume until you skyrocket to the top with your money and your whatever. That's not my philosophy. My philosophy is quite the opposite in that there's limited space, we have limited resources, and so it's not about the individual.

Humans are not really very humane.

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.

Most of us are consumed with our own thoughts and desires and are not always thinking about what other people may want. This is not necessarily being egocentric; it is just being human.

What each man feared would happen to himself, did not trouble him when he saw that it would ruin another.

The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.

I was taught in school that I have to look out for number one. That was against everything that I intuitively felt.

Men never do good unless necessity drives them to it.

The major forces in human nature: self interest and caring for others

People are nicer than economists give us credit for. The economists cannot understand why people would work long and hard to clean up a community after a hurricane. … Most economists don’t have any interest in or understanding of psychology.

There is some pretty powerful self-interest in wanting a future that is not just running storm-to-storm. The argument that I make is not that we aren't competitive and selfish and greedy. We are. We're all of these things. We're complicated, competitive, greedy and nasty, and kind and generous and compassionate.

We're a blip in the existence of the universe, and we're constantly trying to pull each other down. Not doing things to help each other.

There is a difference between being self-interested and being selfish. I will never be selfish.

I believe that people generally want to be what we call good. They want to cooperate with people. They don't want to steal; they don't want to cheat. But everybody has a price. Everybody has an incentive.

I don't think it really serves to make the world a better place, when you're only concerned about yourself.

I'm realizing that a lot of people don't really care what happens to other people as long as it doesn't affect them.

Men have been taught that their first concern is to relieve the suffering of others. ... To make that the highest test of virtue is to make suffering the most important part of life. Then man must wish to see others suffer in order that he may be virtuous. Such is the nature of altruism.

We fail to reckon with the reality of human nature. By nature,we are egocentric. Our world revolves around us. None of us is totally altruistic.

Somebody says, 'Well, I can't be concerned about other people. About the best I can do is to take care of myself' Well, then you will always be poor.

Paradoxical as it may seem, men and women who are free to pursue individualism and material wealth turn out to be the most compassionate of all.

All our acts, reasoned and unreasoned, are selfish