Benjamin Franklin Quotes

I think most people act in their self-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.

Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.

I'm sure some cynical people would point to that as the main reason for doing it for a lot of people.

Even wisdom has to yield to self-interest.

There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth.

They regard as just whatever they believe to be advantageous.

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

No man will work for your interests unless they are his.

There is nothing wrong in using people. The success never uses people except to their advantage.

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

I am convinced that the majority of people would be generous from selfish motives, if they had the opportunity.

Everybody has an agenda.

Self interest is a masterful agent in modern civilization.

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

We're selfish to some degree, that's not a criticism and it doesn't mean that we are all narcissists. But in any situation our minds naturally evolve to what's in it for me? How does this affect me? Can this benefit me? Can this harm me? Then we might move on from that and have a more altruistic point of view about things but that's almost always our initial response.

Ordinarily, everything we do is in our self-interest. Everything.

Our true passions are selfish.

But I felt that most of us in the world today gave priority to our personal interests.

People are motivated by the desires for privilege, for power, for profit. Those are not shocking revelations. Anyone who's had any experience in life knows these things.

It is vain to talk of the interest of the community, without understanding what is the interest of the individual.

People don't change their behavior unless it makes a difference for them to do so.

Be incredibly, ruthlessly selfish with your equity.

It's kind of selfish to say that you're only going to fight for a victory that you will live to see.

Ambition is the mother of hypocrisy and prefers to skulk in corners and dark places. It cannot endure the light of day. It is an unclean vice wallowing in the depths, always hidden, but with ever an eye to advancement.