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Motive Quotes

Browse 1214 quotes about Motive.

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Motive Quotes

“Whatever may be the judgement pronounced on the competency of the architects of the Constitution, or whatever may be the destiny of the edifice prepared by them, I feel it a duty to express my profound and solemn conviction . . . that there never was an assembly of men, charged with a great and arduous trust, who were more pure in their motives, or more exclusively or anxiously devoted to the object committed to them.”

MenFeelsMayDestinyObjectsDutyPureConstitutionPreparedProfoundCommittedConvictionJudgementMotiveArchitectDevotedSolemnAssemblyEdificeCompetenciesConstitutional Convention
Book:Journal of the Federal Convention
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“The majority of men cannot be made disinterested for life by exhortation, by religious services, by any expenditure of subsidized works, or even by grave and manifest public need. They can be made permanently unselfish only by being helped to become disinterested in their individual purposes. In the complete democracy a man must in some way be made to serve the nation in the very act of contributing to his own individual fulfillment. Not until his personal action is dictated by disinterested motives can there be any such harmony between private and public interests.”

MenWayNeedsMadeActionPurposeIndividualNationsInterestReligiousDemocracyHarmonyMajorityGravesFulfillmentMotiveManifestContributingUnselfishExpendituresDisinterestedPublic Interest
Author:Herbert Croly
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“The true liberty of the press is amply secured by permitting every man to publish his opinion; but it is due to the peace and dignity of society, to inquire into the motives of such publications, and to distinguish between those which are meant for use and reformation, and with an eye solely to the public good, and those which are intended merely to delude and defame. To the latter description, it is impossible that any good government should afford protection and impunity.”

MenShouldUseGovernmentEyeLibertyOpinionImpossibleDignityPressesProtectionDuesEvery ManMotiveLatterDescriptionPublishReformationPublicationSecuredImpunityPublic Good
Author:Thomas McKean
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“To act intelligently in human affairs is only possible if an attempt is made to understand the thoughts, motives, and apprehension of one's opponent so fully that one can see the world through their eyes.”

IfsWorldHumansMadeEyeAffairOpponentsMotiveApprehension
Book:Albert Einstein in his own words in two complete books: Relativity-the special and general theory; Out of my later years-the scientist, philosopher and man portrayed through his own words
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“I always have a high regard for the individual and have an insuperable distaste for violence and clubmanship. All these motives made me into a passionate pacifist and anti-militarist. I am against any nationalism, even in the guise of mere patriotism. Privileges based on position and property have always seemed to me unjust and pernicious, as did any exaggerated personality cult.”

MadeIndividualViolencePositionPersonalityRegardPropertyMerePassionatePrivilegeMotiveNationalismUnjustCultExaggeratedPacifistGuisePerniciousDistaste
Author:Albert Einstein
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“I wish I could recall with clarity the impulse that compelled me to help bring this camp into being. I'd be pleased if I could announce a motive of lofty purpose. I've been accused of compassion, of altruism, of devotion to Christian, Hebrew, and Muslim ethic, but however desperate I am to claim ownership of a high ideal, I cannot. I wanted, I think, to acknowledge Luck; the chance of it, the benevolence of it in my life, and the brutality of it in the lives of others, made especially savage for children because they may not be allowed the good fortune of a lifetime to correct it.”

IfsThinkingMayChildrenMadeHelpingWantedChristianPurposeWishChanceCompassionEthicsIdealsClaimsLuckFortuneLifetimeDevotionClarityImpulseAcknowledgeMotiveDesperateIf I CouldCampsRecallsOwnershipSavagesAltruismCompelledAccusedGood FortuneBrutalityBenevolenceLoftyHebrewLives Of Others
Author:Paul Newman
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“If it were true that conservatives were racist, sexist, homophobic, fascist, stupid, inflexible, angry, and self-righteous, shouldn't their arguments be easy to deconstruct? Someone who is making a point out of anger, ideology, inflexibility, or resentment would presumably construct a flimsy argument. So why can't the argument itself be dismembered rather than the speaker's personal style or hidden motives? Why the evasions?”

IfsSelfPoliticsEasyStyleStupidArgumentAngryIdeologyMotiveRacistResentmentRighteousSpeakersConstructsFascistsSexistSelf RighteousPersonal StyleEvasionHomophobic
Author:Ann Coulter
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“Love is a momentary upwelling of three tightly interwoven events: First, a sharing of one or more positive emotions between you and another; second, a synchrony between your and the other person’s biochemistry and behaviors; and third, a reflected motive to invest in each other’s well-being that brings mutual care”

FirstsWellsPersonsCareThreeLove IsEmotionEventsBehaviorThirdsWell BeingMotiveMutualMomentaryBiochemistryPositive Emotions
Book:Love 2.0: Finding Happiness and Health in Moments of Connection
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“Mindfulness is not just a word or a discourse by the Buddha, but a meaningful state of mind. It means we have to be here now, in this very moment, and we have to know what is happening internally and externally. It means being alert to our motives and learning to change unwholesome thoughts and emotions into wholesome ones Mindfulness is a mental activity that in due course eliminates all suffering.”

KnowsMindMeanStatesMomentsSufferingCoursesEmotionActivityMindfulnessHappeningsDuesMeaningfulMotiveState Of MindDiscourseBe Here NowThoughts And Emotions
Author:Ayya Khema
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“Rely on your own strength of body and soul. Take for your star self-reliance, faith, honesty and industry. Don't take too much advice - keep at the helm and steer your own ship, and remember that the great art of commanding is to take a fair share of the work. Fire above the mark you intend to hit. Energy, invincible determination with the right motive, are the levers that move the world.”

WorldInspirationalArtSoulSelfBodyRememberMovingEnergyStarsLeadershipLeaderFireToo MuchShareAdviceHonestyIndustryFairsDeterminationMarkShipsRelyMotiveSelf RelianceGreat ArtRelianceGreat LeaderMiscellaneousInvincibleSteersBeing A LeaderLeadership By Famous LeadersLeversFair ShareMotivational LeadershipLeadership By Great LeadersHelmOutstanding LeadershipBorn LeadersEmpowering Others
Author:Noah Porter
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“Neither fear nor self-interest can convert the soul. They may change the appearance, perhaps even the conduct, but never the object of supreme desire... Fear is the motive which constrains the slave; greed binds the selfish man, by which he is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed (James 1:14). But neither fear nor self-interest is undefiled, nor can they convert the soul. Only charity can convert the soul, freeing it from unworthy motives.”

MenMaySoulSelfDesireFearInterestObjectsSlaveCharityGreedAppearanceSelfishSupremeLustMotiveTemptedSelf InterestUnworthyConstrainSelfish Men
Author:Bernard of Clairvaux
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“The experience of the past lives little doubt that every economic system must sooner or later rely upon some form of the profit motive to stir individuals and groups to productivity. Substitutes like slavery, police supervision, or ideological enthusiasm prove too unproductive, too expensive, or too transient.”

LittlesPastFormIndividualDoubtGroupsEconomicProvePoliceSlaveryProfitProductivityEnthusiasmRelyMotiveExpensiveSubstitutesSooner Or LaterIdeologicalTransientPast LifeEconomic SystemsSupervisionRely UponUnproductiveProfit Motive
Author:Will Durant
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“People ask me: ‘What is punk? How do you define punk?' Here's how I define punk: It's a free space. It could be called jazz. It could be called hip-hop. It could be called blues, or rock, or beat. It could be called techno. It's just a new idea. For me, it was punk rock. That was my entrance to this idea of the new ideas being able to be presented in an environment that wasn't being dictated by a profit motive.”

PeopleIdeasAbleAsksSpaceEnvironmentRocksBeatsJazzProfitHip HopHipsAsk MeMotiveHopsPunkNew IdeasEntrancesPunk RockTechnoProfit Motive
Author:Ian MacKaye
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“Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untravelled, the naive, the sophisticated deplore these formalities as 'empty,' 'meaningless,' or 'dishonest,' and scorn to use them. No matter how 'pure' their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.”

PeopleWellsDoeMatterUseTogetherMovingYoungPureEmptyContactMotiveSandMeaninglessSophisticatedFormalNaiveMachineryScornPolitenessFormalityMoving PartsLubrication
Author:Robert A. Heinlein
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“Vanity is so frequently the apparent motive of advice that we, for the most part, summon our powers to oppose it without very accurate inquiry whether it is right. It is sufficient that another is growing great in his own eyes at our expense, and assumes authority over us without our permission; for many would contentedly suffer the consequences of their own mistakes, rather than the insolence of him who triumphs as their deliverer.”

EyeSufferingMistakeGrowingAdviceAuthorityConsequenceAssumingVanityTriumphSufficientMotiveExpensesAccuratePermissionInquiryInsolence
Book:The works of Samuel Johnson
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“Aside from higher considerations, charity often operates as a vastly wise and prudent principle-a great safeguard to its possessor. Men have committed murder for jealousy's sake, and anger's sake, and hatred's sake, and selfishness' sake, and spiritual pride's sake; but no man that ever I heard of, ever committed a diabolical murder for sweet charity's sake. Mere self-interest, then, if no better motive can be enlisted, should, especially with high-tempered men, prompt all beings to charity and philanthropy.”

IfsMenShouldSelfSpiritualInterestPrinciplesWiseHeardSweetPrideHigherHatredMurderMereCharitySakeCommittedSelfishnessMotiveConsiderationPhilanthropySelf InterestPrudentPromptsDiabolicalEnlistedSpiritual Pride
Book:Bartleby, the Scrivener: a Story of Wall-Street
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“Civilization has little to fear from educated people and brain-workers. In them the replacement of religious motives for civilized behaviors by other, secular motives, would proceed unobtrusively. . . .”

PeopleLittlesReligionFearReligiousBrainCivilizationBehaviorWorkersEducatedMotiveCivilizedSecularReplacementsCivilized Behavior
Book:Abstracts of the Standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud
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“The motive is this, 'Oh! that God could be glorified, that Jesus might see the reward of his sufferings! Oh! that sinners might be saved, so that God might have new tongues to praise him, new hearts to love him! Oh! that sin were put an end to, that the holiness, righteousness, mercy, and power of God might be magnifi ed!' This is the way to pray; when thy prayers seek God's glory, it is God's glory to answer thy prayers.”

WayHeartEndsMightChristianSufferingJesusPrayerSinAnswersPrayingGloryMercyPraiseRewardsTongueChristian InspirationalSavedMotiveHolinessSinnerRighteousnessPower Of God
Author:Charles Spurgeon
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“The war against Iraq is as disastrous as it is unnecessary; perhaps in terms of its wisdom, purpose and motives, the worst war in American history... Our military men and women...were not called to defend America but rather to attack Iraq. They were not called to die for, but rather to kill for, their country. What more unpatriotic thing could we have asked of our sons and daughters...?”

MenWarCountryAmericaPurposeDiesTermWorstMilitarySonDaughterMen And WomenIraqMotiveAntiwarAmerican HistoryUnnecessarySon And DaughterUnpatrioticMilitary Man
Author:William Sloane Coffin
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“The problem isn't that conservatives are wrong about the efficiency of markets or the creativity of enterprise. It's that they have made false idols of both, usually without acknowledging that markets work best when well regulated, that private enterprise cannot meet every human need, that government has always played a critical role in our economy, and that the profit motive can be socially and environmentally destructive as well as dynamic.”

NeedsHumansWellsMadeProblemGovernmentPoliticalRolesCreativityEconomyProfitCriticalMotiveEnterpriseDestructiveIdolsEfficiencyHuman NeedsPrivate EnterpriseProfit Motive
Author:Joe Conason
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“I never desire to know anything of the detail of political measures, lest even those which I think best should lose anything of their intrinsic value to me, by seeing what low, paltry, personal motives and base machinery and dirty hands have helped to bring them about.”

ThinkingKnowsShouldHandsPoliticalDesireValuesLosesSeeingLowsDetailsDirtyMotiveMachineryIntrinsic ValueDirty Hands
Book:Further Records, 1848-1883: A Series of Letters
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“Self-interest, to be sure, is one of the most important, but we have many other motives - honesty, self-respect, altruism, love, sympathy, faith, sense of duty, solidarity, loyalty, public-spiritedness, patriotism, and so on - that are sometimes even more important than self-seeking as the driver of our behaviors.”

ImportantSelfSometimesInterestHuman NatureHonestyDutyBehaviorSeekingLoyaltyMotiveSelf RespectDriversSolidarityAltruismSelf Interest
Author:Ha-Joon Chang
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