“All selfishness is the great curse of the human race”
William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898) British Liberal politician and prime minister of the United Kingdom
Speech at Hawarden (28 May 1890), quoted in The Times (29 May 1890), p. 12.
1890s
Context: All selfishness is the great curse of the human race, and when we have a real sympathy with other people less happy than ourselves that is a good sign of something like a beginning of deliverance from selfishness.