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Quote by David Stove

“There are other beliefs which, though disproved countless times, never die out, because they appeal, not to something in everyone, but to a certain perennial type of person. An example is, the belief that everyone is at bottom selfish, or that no one ever acts intentionally except from motives of self-interest. There is a perennial human type to whom this belief is peculiarly and irresistibly congenial. It is almost never a woman. It is a kind of man who is deficient in generous or even disinterested impulses himself, and knows it, but keeps up his self-esteem by thinking that everyone else is really in the same case. He prides himself, both on having the perspicacity to realise, what most people disguise even from themselves, that everyone is selfish, and on having the uncommon candour not to conceal this unpleasant home truth. Who has not met people of this type? In the Australian-English of 50 years ago, there was a wonderful expression for this kind of man: he was said to be 'as flash as a rat with a gold tooth”

Quote by David Stove

Book:Darwinian Fairytales: Selfish Genes, Errors of Heredity and Other Fables of Evolution
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Darwinian Fairytales: Selfish Genes, Errors of Heredity and Other Fables of Evolution

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David Stove

David Stove (September 15, 1927 - June 2, 1994) was an Australian philosopher recognized for his contributions to the philosophy of science and ethics. He was particularly influential in the discussions surrounding the scientific status of evolutionary theory and the philosophy of mind. Stove's writing was renowned for its wit and rigor, and he was a notable critic of philosophical naturalism. more

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