Selfish quotes
1.3K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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"War, and more wars, are helping Government to siphon the earnings of its people into its treasury for its own selfish purpose, which is to rule the people for the Government instead of for the purpose of serving the people. When will the people see that the very taxes they pay are building a power to be used against them?"
"Don’t sacrifice yourself too much, because if you sacrifice too much there’s nothing else you can give and nobody will care for you."
"Good travels at a snail's pace. Those who want to do good are not selfish, they are not in a hurry, they know that to impregnate people with good requires a long time."
"There are many selfish people who are extremely original, then they take those pure ideas and use them to raise themselves up, that is an insincere move."
"My love is selfish. I cannot breathe without you."
"A red rose is not selfish because it wants to be a red rose. It would be horribly selfish if it wanted all the other flowers in the garden to be both red and roses."
"Sure, I have friends, plenty of friends, and they all come around wantin' to borrow money. I've always been generous with my friends and family, with money, but selfish with the important stuff like love."
"Love is the most selfish of all the passions."
"To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost."
"The Man who works for others, without any selfish motive, really does good to himself."
"I doubt if I have made the best use of all my calamities. Soft, amiable natures they would have refined to saintliness; of strong, evil spirits they would have made demons; as for me, I have only been a woe-struck and selfish woman."
"Self-care is not selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel."
"I am in love with girls that are bad and naughty and badass, and a little selfish, but I like to watch from a respectful distance!"
"Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the 'transcendent' and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don't be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you."
"An institution or reform movement that is not selfish, must originate in the recognition of some evil that is adding to the sum of human suffering, or diminishing the sum of happiness."
"Young women especially have something invested in being nice people, and it's only when you have children that you realize you're not a nice person at all, but generally a selfish bully."
"It is indolence... Indolence and love of ease; a want of all laudable ambition, of taste for good company, or of inclination to take the trouble of being agreeable, which make men clergymen. A clergyman has nothing to do but be slovenly and selfish; read the newspaper, watch the weather, and quarrel with his wife. His curate does all the work and the business of his own life is to dine."
"A mere literary man is a dull man; a man who is solely a man of business is a selfish man; but when literature and commerce are united, they make a respectable man."
"Everywhere I've been, I've been the best player. I love being a leader, and I love being the best. I just want to get better. It's not about being cocky or selfish or anything like that. It's just how I am."
"Her heart is full of joy with love, for in the Lord her mind is stilled. She has renounced every selfish attachment and draws abiding joy and strength from the One within. She lives not for herself, but lives to serve the Lord of Love in all, and swims across the sea of life breasting its rough waves joyfully."
