#selfish

Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires. ↗

— Lao Tzu

#envy #greed #illusions #selfishness #simplicity

One of the greatest evils is the foolishness of a good man. For the giving man to withhold helping someone in order to first assure personal fortification is not selfish, but to elude needless self-destruction; martyrdom is only practical when the thought is to die, else a good man faces the consequence of digging a hole from which he cannot escape, and truly helps no one in the long run. ↗

— Mike Norton

#die #dig #digging #escape #evil

When we don’t put the brakes on our self-absorption, we have nothing stopping us from total self-destruction. We become the fruits of our actions. ↗

— Zeena Schreck

#egocentricity #hubris #karma #karmic-effects #self-absorption

You don't make me feel like you used to. That's why I'm leaving That's why people leave each other They come to their senses and get selfish again. ↗

— Henry Rollins

#selfishness

More about Howl? Sophie thought desperately. I have to blacken his name! Her mind was such a blank that for a second it actually seemed to her that Howl had no faults at all. How stupid! 'Well, he's fickle, careless, selfish, and hysterical,' she said. 'Half the time I think he doesn't care what happens to anyone as long as he's alright--but then I find out how awfully kind he's been to someone. Then I think he's kind just when it suits him--only then I find out he undercharges poor people. I don't know, Your Majesty. He's a mess. ↗

— Diana Wynne Jones

#howl #howl-s-moving-castle #sophie #selfishness

Point me out the happy man and I will point you out either extreme egotism, selfishness, evil -- or else an absolute ignorance. ↗

— Graham Greene

#evil #happiness #ignorance #selfishness

Whatever joy there is in the world Arises from wishing for others' happiness. Whatever suffering there is in the world Arises from wishing for your own happiness. ↗

— -Shantideva

#selfishness #selfishness

Everyone thinks I'm showing off when I talk, ridiculous when I'm silent, insolent when I answer, cunning when I have a good idea, lazy when I'm tired, selfish when I eat one bite more than I should. ↗

— Anne Frank

#diary #world-war-ii #selfishness

We are selfish when we are exclusively or predominantly concerned with the good for ourselves. We are altruistic when we are exclusively or predominantly concerned with the good of others. ↗

— Mortimer Adler

#concerned #exclusively #good #others #ourselves

Courtesy is only a thin veneer on the general selfishness. ↗

— Honore de Balzac

#general #only #selfishness #thin #veneer