“We must judge of a man's motives from his overt acts.”
Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon (1732–1802) British Baron
King v. Waddington (1800), 1 East, 158.
“Since all motives at bottom are selfish and ignoble, we may judge acts and qualities only be their effects.”
"Nietzscheism and Realism" from The Rainbow, Vol. I, No. 1 (October 1921); reprinted in "To Quebec and the Stars", and also in Collected Essays, Volume 5: Philosophy edited by S. T. Joshi, p. 71
Non-Fiction
Context: The undesirability of any system of rule not tempered with the quality of kindness is obvious; for "kindness" is a complex collection of various impulses, reactions and realisations highly necessary to the smooth adjustment of botched and freakish creatures like most human beings. It is a weakness basically—or, in some cases, and ostentation of secure superiority—but its net effect is desirable; hence it is, on the whole, praiseworthy. Since all motives at bottom are selfish and ignoble, we may judge acts and qualities only be their effects. Pessimism produces kindness. The disillusioned philosopher is even more tolerant than the priggish bourgeois idealist with his sentimental and extravagant notions of human dignity and destiny.
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Wilhelm Von Humboldt (1767–1835) German (Prussian) philosopher, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the University of Berlin
Source: The Limits of State Action (1792), Ch. 8
“Revenge is not an ignoble motive, when it works to a productive end.”
Source: Demon Princes (1964-1981), The Star King (1964), Chapter 2 (p. 28)
“Although only a few may originate a policy, we are all able to judge it.”
Pericles (-494–-429 BC) Greek statesman, orator, and general of Athens
As quoted in The Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl Popper (1966). Book II, chapter 40.
Nicolas Bratza (1945) British judge
"Britain should be defending European justice, not attacking it", The Independent, Tuesday 24 January 2012 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/nicolas-bratza-britain-should-be-defending-european-justice-not-attacking-it-6293689.html
