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Selfishness Quotes

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Selfishness Quotes

“Everything - our houses, our clothes, our hairstyles - is meant to help us forget ourselves and to protect us from vanity, greed and envy, which are just forms of selfishness. If we have little, and want for little, and we are all equal, we envy no one.”

IfsWantLittlesHelpingFormHouseForgetProtectEqualClothesGreedEnvyVanitySelfishnessHairstyles
Book:The Divergent Series Complete Collection: Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant
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“The Resurrection was the greatest ‘eucatastrophe’ possible in the greatest Fairy Story — and produces that essential emotion: Christian joy which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled, as selfishness and altruism are lost in Love.”

StoriesChristianJoyLostEmotionProduceTearsSorrowEssentialsSelfishnessFairyResurrectionLost LoveAltruismJoys And SorrowsFairy Stories
Book:The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
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“What i’m saying is, my friends, one ought to be able to let go. If a path does not please us, instead of insisting on going that specific way, of making our selfishness the guide, we ought to forsake. The books we cannot write, the films we cannot shoot, the projects we cannot develop, the jobs we cannot pursue and the people who no longer love us. Being able to let go, at times, is the most beautiful of all!”

PeopleIfsWayWritingDoeBookAbleJobsBeautifulFilmPathOughtPleaseLetting GoProjectsMy FriendsGuidesPursueSelfishnessForsakeInsisting
Author:Elif Safak
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“Love is not selective, desire is selective. In love there are no strangers. When the centre of selfishness is no longer, all desires for pleasure and fear of pain cease; one is no longer interested in being happy; beyond happiness there is pure intensity, inexhaustible energy, the ecstasy of giving from a perennial source.”

GivingPainDesireEnergyLove IsPleasureSourcePureStrangerCeaseSelfishnessEcstasyIntensityCentreSelective
Author:Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
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“There is little hope of the repentance and redemption of certain some until they have committed one or another of the many wrong things of which they are daily, through a course of unrestrained selfishness, becoming more and more capable.”

LittlesCertainCoursesBecomingCapableCommittedRedemptionSelfishnessRepentanceWrong ThingsBecoming More
Book:Delphi Complete Works of George MacDonald (Illustrated)
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“Not selfishness, but precisely the absence of a self. Look at them. The man who cheats and lies, but preserves a respectable front. He knows himself to be dishonest, but others think he’s honest and he derives his self-respect from that, second-hand. The man who takes credit for an achievement which is not his own. He knows himself to be mediocre, but he’s great in the eyes of others.”

ThinkingKnowsMenLooksSelfHandsEyeLyingHonestFrontsAchievementCreditAbsenceSelfishnessPreservesSelf RespectDeceitCheatMediocreRespectableSecond Hand
Book:The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z
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“I've learned that the universe doesn't care what our motives are, only our actions. So we should do things that will bring about good, even if there is an element of selfishness involved. Like the kids at my school might join the Key Club or Future Buisness Leaders of America, because it's a social thing and looks good on their record, not because they really want to volunteer at the nursing home. But the people at the nursing home still benefit from it, so it's better that the kids do it than not do it. And if they never did it, then they wouldn't find out that they actually liked it.”

PeopleIfsWantShouldLooksStillsHomeMightCareKidsActionSchoolAmericaUniverseSocialLeaderRecordsKeysInvolvedElementsBenefitsClubsSelfishnessMotiveI've LearnedVolunteerOur ActionsNursingBuisnessNursing Home
Book:13 Gifts
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“I knew by the way he looked at her that he held her in a higher regard than he held even himself. No selfishness or insecurity kept him from seeing the full extent of her goodeness, as it so often does with the rest of us. That kind of love may only be possible in Abnegation. I do not know. My father: Erudite-born, Abnegation-grown. He often found it difficult to live up to the demands of his chosen faction, just as I did. But he tried, and he knew true selflessness when he saw it.”

KnowsWayKindMayDoeFoundFatherDifficultBornSawsSeeingHigherDemandRegardChosenSelfishnessInsecuritySelflessnessFactionsKinds Of LoveEruditeAbnegation
Author:Veronica Roth
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“Selfishness is one of the principal fruits of the corruption of human nature; and it is obvious that selfishness disposes us to over-rate our good qualities, and to overlook or extenuate our defects.”

HumansQualityHuman NatureFruitRateObviousCorruptionSelfishnessPrincipalDefectsGood Quality
Book:A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians: In the Higher and Middle Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity
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“Tessa was convinced that it was a lie, and also that everything she had done in her life, telling herself that it was for the best, had been no more than blind selfishness, generating confusion and mess all around. But who could bear to know which stars were already dead, she thought, blinking up at the night sky; could anybody stand to know they all were?”

KnowsDoneLyingNightStarsSkyBearsBlindConvincedConfusionMessSelfishnessNight Sky
Book:The Casual Vacancy
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“Is it possible really to love other people? If I’m lonely and in pain, everyone outside me is potential relief—I need them. But can you really love what you need so badly? Isn’t a big part of love caring more about what the other person needs? How am I supposed to subordinate my own overwhelming need to somebody else’s needs that I can’t even feel directly? And yet if I can’t do this, I’m damned to loneliness, which I definitely don’t want … so I’m back at trying to overcome my selfishness for self-interested reasons.”

PeopleIfsWantNeedsFeelsTryingPersonsI CanSelfReasonBigsPainMy OwnLonelinessLonelyOvercomingCaringSelfishnessReliefOverwhelmingSubordinatesI'm BackI'm LonelyCaring More
Author:David Foster Wallace
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“Today, the sun is everywhere, and everything solid is nothing but its own shadow, I know that the real things in life, the things I remember, the things I turn over in my hands, are not houses, bank accounts, prizes or promotions. What I remember is love -- all love -- love of this dirt road, this sunrise, a day by the river, the stranger I met in a café. Myself, even, which is the hardest thing of all to love, because love and selfishness are not the same thing. It is easy to be selfish. It is hard to love who I am. No wonder I am surprised if you do.”

IfsKnowsRealHardHandsTodayRememberTurnsHouseEasyWonderSunMetsShadowRiversAccountsStrangerSelfishWho I AmHardestSelfishnessPrizeThings In LifeDirtSunriseHardest ThingPromotionReal ThingsBank AccountsBeing SelfishDirt Roads
Book:Lighthousekeeping
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“Mr Thornton would rather have heard that she was suffering the natural sorrow. In the first place, there was selfishness enough in him to have taken pleasure in the idea that his great love might come in to comfort and console her; much the same kind of strange passionate pleasure which comes stinging through a mother's heart, when her drooping infant nestles close to her, and is dependent upon her for everything.”

FirstsHeartKindIdeasEnoughMightMotherSufferingNaturalPleasureTakenHeardStrangeSorrowComfortPassionateSelfishnessDependentInfantGreat LoveConsoleMr Thornton
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Elizabeth Gaskell (Illustrated)
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“It is difficult to feel sympathy for these people. It is difficult to regard some bawdy drunk and see them as sick and powerless. It is difficult to suffer the selfishness of a drug addict who will lie to you and steal from you and forgive them and offer them help. Can there be any other disease that renders its victims so unappealing?”

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Author:Russell Brand
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“Only God can give us a selfless love for others, as the Holy Spirit changes us from within. This is one reason we must receive Christ, for apart from His Spirit we can never be freed from the chains of selfishness, jealousy, and indifference. Will others see Christ's love in your life today?”

GivingReasonTodaySpiritChristHolyChainsSelfishnessIndifferenceHoly SpiritSelflessSelfless Love
Book:Hope for Each Day: Words of Wisdom and Faith
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“Mundus vult decipi'—the world wants to be deceived. To live without deception presupposes standards beyond the reach of most people whose existence is largely shaped by compromise, evasion and mutual accommodation. Could they face their weakness, their vanity and selfishness, without a mask?”

PeopleWorldWantFacesExistenceStandardsWeaknessCompromiseVanityDeceptionSelfishnessMaskMutualDeceivedEvasionAccommodations
Book:A Passion for Truth
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“I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism, by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself.”

KnowsBelieveHumanityCausesAttitudeNegativeHatredEnvyDevelopingSelfishnessCynicismBelieve In MeThink And Grow RichThink Rich Grow RichNegative Attitude
Book:Think and grow rich: Brazilian edition
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“At the time of his death, Biko had a wife and three children for which he left a letter that stated in one part: “I've devoted my life to see equality for blacks, and at the same time, I've denied the needs of my family. Please understand that I take these actions, not out of selfishness or arrogance, but to preserve a South Africa worth living in for blacks and whites.”

NeedsChildrenActionThreeLeftWifePleaseMy FamilyLettersSouthSelfishnessPreservesArroganceDeniedDevotedSouth AfricaWorth LivingBiko
Author:Steven Biko
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“I catch myself thinking 'Thank God For This' out of habit, and then I understand what he's so concerned about. What if my parents' God, their whole belief system, is just something concocted by a bunch of scientists to keep us under control? And not just their beliefs about God and whatever else is out there, about right and wrong, about selfishness?”

IfsThinkingWholeBeliefParentHabitConcernedScientistBunchSelfishnessWhat IfThank GodBelief Systems
Author:Veronica Roth
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“In the march towards Truth, anger, selfishness, hatred, etc., naturally give way, for otherwise Truth would be impossible to attain. A man who is swayed by passions may have good enough intentions, may be truthful in word, but he will never find the Truth.”

MenWayGivingMayEnoughWould BePassionImpossibleHatredAngerIntentionSelfishnessEtcMarchGood EnoughTruthfulBeing Truthful
Book:My Experiments With Truth: An Autobiography
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“Professional standards, the standards of ambition and selfishness, are always sliding downward toward expense, ostentation, and mediocrity. They tend always to narrow the ground of judgment. But amateur standards, the standards of love, are always straining upward toward the humble and the best. They enlarge the ground of judgment. The context of love is the world.”

WorldLifeLove IsAmbitionJudgmentStandardsHumbleSelfishnessExpensesMediocrityOstentation
Book:What Are People For?: Essays
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“So, the first thing we should introspect - are we concerned about ourselves ? All the time do we think that we are suffering, we have this problem, that problem, or this should be done, that should be done. If the attention is on that, that all the time you are worried about yourself, then you cannot break, you cannot break through this shell of your being which is under the domination of your mental selfishness or self centeredness.”

IfsThinkingLoveShouldFirstsSelfDoneProblemWisdomSpiritSufferingAttentionBreakMeditationYogaConcernedWorriedSelfishnessWellnessAbout YourselfShellsDominationSelf CenteredBreak ThroughSelf CenterednessCenteredness
Author:Nirmala Srivastava
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“I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker in this cause. The example of great and pure characters is the only thing that can produce fine ideas and noble deeds. Money only appeals to selfishness and always tempts its owners irresistibly to abuse it”

WorldInspirationalIdeasCharacterHelpingHandsHumanityCausesWealthMoneyExampleProduceFinePureAbuseWorkersDeedsNobleConvincedSelfishAppealsSelfishnessOwnersDevotedNoble Deeds
Book:The World As I See It
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“Compassion has been advocated by all the great faiths because it has been found to be the safest and surest means of attaining enlightenment. It dethrones the ego from the center of our lives and puts others there, breaking down the carapace of the selfishness that holds us back from an experience of the sacred. And it gives us ecstasy, broadening our perspectives and giving us a larger, enhanced vision.”

GivingMeanHas BeensFoundCompassionVisionOur LivesPerspectiveEgoEnlightenmentSacredSelfishnessEcstasyBreaking DownGreat Faith
Book:The Spiral Staircase
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“There must be love, and understanding, to betray. Most men haven't the wit or the honor for betrayal: not to know it when they see it; not the stomach to apprehend it as they do it. Most men, blind and dumb in their self-centeredness, don't betray: they merely disappoint.”

KnowsMenLoveSelfUnderstandingHavensHonorBlindBetrayalLoyaltyWitDumbSelfishnessStomachBetrayDisappointSelf CenterednessCenteredness
Book:Tempus with His Right-Side Companion Niko
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