“Actually, there are never motives behind actions. All actions are fixed. What we call motives evidently are rationalizations by the helpless observing consciousness, which is intelligent enough to smell an event coming—and, since it cannot avert the event, instead cooks up reasons for wanting it to happen…or ascribes it to the malice of God or man.”
Source: The Quincunx of Time (1973), Chapter 8, “The Courtship of Posi and Nega” (p. 84; ellipsis in the original)
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James Blish 30
American author 1921–1975Related quotes

Edward Everett, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 140.

“People always try to find base motives behind every good action.”
The Paris Review interview (1984)
Context: People always try to find base motives behind every good action. We are afraid of pure goodness and of pure evil.

“We want deeper sincerity of motive, a greater courage in speech and earnestness in action.”
Best Inspirational quotes by Sarojini Naidu, Happy Wishes https://happywishes20.com/quotes/best-inspirational-quotes-by-sarojini-naidu/,

Source: Outlines of a Philosophy of Art, 1925, p. 41
Source: Beyond Apollo (1972), Chapter 60

“Realization is experienced by making the Lord the motive of all actions.”
§ 2.45
Yoga Sutras of Patañjali

Quote from The Quotable Artist, by Peggy Hadden; Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., 2010; not paged
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