“It is frequently insufficient to identify the motives that guide our conduct, or that shape our attitudes and our thinking, just by observing vaguely that there are various things we want. That often leaves out too much. In numerous contexts, it is both more precise and more fully explanatory to say that there is something we care about.” — Harry Frankfurt, The Reasons of Love
“People who barely know their own minds can tell you, in minute detail, the arcane motives of a person whom they’ve never met.” — Michael Wade, Lessons of Modern Life (2017-08-18)
“He that is of Opinion Money will do every Thing, may well be suspected of doing every Thing for Money.” — Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack (1753)
“People’s behavior makes sense from their perspective, or else they wouldn’t have done it.” — Ellen Langer, Ellen Langer — Science of Mindlessness and Mindfulness
“When you demand the nature of my motives, you reveal the style of your thinking to be callow, captious, superficial, craven, uncertain and impudent.” — Jack Vance, The Languages of Pao
“There is no act, however virtuous, for which ingenuity may not find some bad motive.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Edward Dowse (19 April 1803)
Related:
6 key principles of influence by Robert Cialdini (wikipedia.org)
Quote of the Day (25 May 2012)
“We are all ready to be savage in some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause.” — William James
“We are all ready to be savage in some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause.” — William James, Letter to E.L. Godkin (24 December 1895) The Letters of William James, Vol. II
“The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
“The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47, 52 (3 March 1919)
“If you do everything for one reason, then all you have done will become meaningless when the reason does.” — James Richardson, Vectors: Aphorisms and Ten Second Essays
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