The Education of Henry Adams (1907)
“The mass of mankind is ruled not by its intermittent moral sensations, still less by self-interest, but by the needs of the moment.”
The Human: Green Humanism (p. 17)
Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals (2002)
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John Gray 164
British philosopher 1948Related quotes
Notes on Life and Letters (1921), Part II,, "Tradition"
“All mankind rules its women, and we rule all mankind, but our women rule us.”
In bitter criticism of the prevalent domination of women (The Classical weekly, Vol. 25–26, 1932, p. 273).
Quoted in Plutarch Apophthegmata regum et imperatorum, in Greek.
Section 7
The True Believer (1951), Part One: The Appeal of Mass Movements
Context: There is a fundamental difference between the appeal of a mass movement and the appeal of a practical organization. The practical organization offers opportunities for self-advancement, and its appeal is mainly to self-interest. On the other hand, a mass movement, particularly in its active, revivalist phase, appeals not to those intent on bolstering and advancing a cherished self, but to those who crave to be rid of an unwanted self. A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisfy the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation.
Source: The Martyrdom of Man (1872), Chapter IV, "Intellect", p. 385.
Defying the Tomb: Selected Prison Writings and Art of Kevin Rashid Johnson (2010)
“Will springs from the two elements of moral sense and self-interest.”
Speech at Springfield, Illinois (26 June 1857)
1850s, Speech on the Dred Scott Decision (1857)
1971), p. 60
"The Hermeneutics of Suspicion: Recovering Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud"