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Selfishness Quotes

On greed, self-interest, and human nature.

These selfishness quotes take a firm stance, with one calling it humanity's worst affliction and another tying it directly to financial crime. See our Generosity quotes for the opposite view.

Undoubtedly there are, in connection with each of these things, cases of fraud, swindling, and other financial crimes; that is to say, the greed and selfishness of men are perpetual.

Quotes by William Graham Sumner

Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race.

Quotes by William E. Gladstone

All sympathy not consistent with acknowledged virtue is but disguised selfishness.

Quotes by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Twin-sister of Religion, Selfishness.

Quotes by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Generosity Quotes

On immigration, Europe is in danger of displaying the worst of itself: selfishness, haphazard decision-making and rows between member states.

Quotes by Paolo Gentiloni

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.

Oscar Wilde

Selfishness is one of the qualities apt to inspire love.

Quotes by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Let us reject violence and selfishness which could destroy our country's unity.

Quotes by Mwai Kibaki

Men err from selfishness; women because they are weak.

Quotes by Madame de Stael

Greed Quotes

We're all basically made of the same stuff: generosity and selfishness, goodness and greed.

Quotes by Madeleine M. Kunin

Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.

Quotes by Lao Tzu

There are points in your life, especially if you have creative ambitions, where selfishness is necessary.

Quotes by Kris Kristofferson

The organization and constant onward sweep of this movement exemplifies the resentment of the many toward the selfishness, greed and the neglect of the few.

Quotes by John L. Lewis

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

Quotes by John Kenneth Galbraith

Life Quotes

There are no generalizations in American politics that vested selfishness cannot cut through.

Quotes by John Gunther

This idea of selfishness as a virtue, as opposed to generosity: That, to me, is unnatural.

Quotes by Jessica Lange

To describe Peter Thiel as simply a libertarian wildly understates the case. His belief system is based on unapologetic selfishness and economic Darwinism.

Quotes by Jacob Weisberg

Selfishness is the only real atheism; aspiration, unselfishness, the only real religion.

Quotes by Israel Zangwill

The nuclear family doesn't work. It's very destructive; it grew out of selfishness.

Quotes by Greg Wise

Me Quotes

Why do I write? From selfishness. Because this state of liquefied, complex concentration, however faintly and dimly I'm able to perceive it, is the greatest pleasure I know.

Quotes by Francis Spufford

Frequently Asked Questions

How do these selfishness quotes frame the trait?
Mostly as a serious flaw tied to fraud and disunity, though one line surprisingly suggests it can inspire a kind of love.
Is selfishness linked to financial wrongdoing?
Yes, one quote connects greed and selfishness directly to fraud, swindling, and similar dishonest schemes.
Does any quote call selfishness a strong negative force?
One goes as far as calling it the single greatest affliction facing humanity.
Is there a quote about national unity?
Yes, one urges rejecting both violence and selfishness to protect a country's shared unity.
What topic offers the opposite perspective?
Our Generosity quotes explore giving and selflessness as a direct contrast.

A more surprising line suggests selfishness can inspire love, complicating the usual condemnation. Continue with our Greed and Life quotes.