William Cullen Bryant Quotes

Selfishness is the making a man's self his own centre, the beginning and end of all he doeth.

That what appears to be egoism so often isn't.

Self-interest, or rather self-love, or egoism, has been more plausibly substituted as the basis of morality.

Whatever pretended causes we may blame our afflictions upon, it is often nothing but self-interest and vanity that produce them.

Every forward is selfish, and any forward who tells you he is not selfish is a liar.

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

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.

All our acts, reasoned and unreasoned, are selfish

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

Egoism , which is the moving force of the world, and altruism , which is its morality , these two contradictory instincts , of which one is so plain and the other so mysterious, cannot serve us unless in the incomprehensible alliance of their irreconcilable antagonism.

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

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

We are addicted to our egotism, our likes and dislikes and prejudices, and depend upon them for our own sense of identity.

I only pray when it suits my own needs. I'm not proud about that.

The egoist is fooled by no ideals: he discards them or uses them, as may suit his own interest.

I'm just selfish. I have to be for what I do.

No doubt, corporate CEOs who lie to their shareholders and politicians who lie to their public know and believe intellectually that lying is immoral. Why then do they lie? They lie to others because they first lie to themselves.

You know, we're really destroying ourselves because we're really making the motivating force of anything we do selfish.

Of course, we are all egoists. Egoism is so much a part of our humanity.

I have yet to find a man worth his salt in any direction who did not think of himself first and foremost.

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

I mistrust the judgment of every man in a case in which his own wishes are concerned.

A friend advises in his interest, not yours.

Man has always sacrificed truth to his vanity, comfort and advantage.

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.