#morality

Certainly the most destructive vice if you like, that a person can have. More than pride, which is supposedly the number one of the cardinal sins - is self pity. Self pity is the worst possible emotion anyone can have. And the most destructive. It is, to slightly paraphrase what Wilde said about hatred, and I think actually hatred's a subset of self pity and not the other way around - ' It destroys everything around it, except itself '. Self pity will destroy relationships, it'll destroy anything that's good, it will fulfill all the prophecies it makes and leave only itself. And it's so simple to imagine that one is hard done by, and that things are unfair, and that one is underappreciated, and that if only one had had a chance at this, only one had had a chance at that, things would have gone better, you would be happier if only this, that one is unlucky. All those things. And some of them may well even be true. But, to pity oneself as a result of them is to do oneself an enormous disservice. I think it's one of things we find unattractive about the american culture, a culture which I find mostly, extremely attractive, and I like americans and I love being in america. But, just occasionally there will be some example of the absolutely ravening self pity that they are capable of, and you see it in their talk shows. It's an appalling spectacle, and it's so self destructive. I almost once wanted to publish a self help book saying 'How To Be Happy by Stephen Fry : Guaranteed success'. And people buy this huge book and it's all blank pages, and the first page would just say - ' Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself - And you will be happy '. Use the rest of the book to write down your interesting thoughts and drawings, and that's what the book would be, and it would be true. And it sounds like 'Oh that's so simple', because it's not simple to stop feeling sorry for yourself, it's bloody hard. Because we do feel sorry for ourselves, it's what Genesis is all about. ↗

— Stephen Fry

#depression #depression-humor #happiness #marriage-advice #morality

Morality is a private and costly luxury. ↗

— Henry Adams

#luxury #morality #private

We do not look in our great cities for our best morality. ↗

— Jane Austen

#cities #great #look #morality #our

I mean, technology is amoral. It has no morality. ↗

— Robert Ballard

#i #mean #morality #technology

Morality may consist solely in the courage of making a choice. ↗

— Leon Blum

#consist #courage #making #may #morality

I learned at a very early age, the easiest thing in the world is to tell the truth, and then you don't have to remember what you said. It has nothing to do with morality, just remembering what you said. ↗

— Robert Evans

#early #early age #easiest #easiest thing #i

There is more criticism of puritanism, and more distance from Christian morality, than there has been before. ↗

— Susie Bright

#before #christian #criticism #distance #morality

God created the family to provide the maximum love and support and morality and example that one can imagine. ↗

— Jerry Falwell

#example #family #god #imagine #love

The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion. ↗

— Arthur C. Clarke

#greatest #hijacking #history #mankind #may

A government for the people must depend for its success on the intelligence, the morality, the justice, and the interest of the people themselves. ↗

— Grover Cleveland

#for the people #government #intelligence #interest #justice