How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.

Adam Smith

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

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More information about this quote

Topic

Man as social animal Empathy Human nature

Author

Adam Smith

Source

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Opening lines

Language

English

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Occupation

Philosopher Economist Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. London: Andrew Millar/Edinburgh: Alexander Kincaid and J. Bell, 1759, pt. 1, sect. 1, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments, edited by Ryan Patrick Hanley. Penguin, 2010, pt. 1, sect. 1, ch. 1.

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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1750s

Glass, China, and Reputation, are easily crack’d, and never well mended.

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)

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More information about this quote
Topic
Reputation

Author

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)
Source
Poor Richard's Almanack
Medium
Almanac
Statement Type
Proverbs, aphorisms and adages Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
English
Time
1750 1750s 18th century
Era
Colonial America
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Franklin, Benjamin [published as Richard Saunders]. Poor Richard Improved. Philadelphia, 1750.

Current Citation

Franklin, Benjamin. "Poor Richard Improved." Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography, Poor Richard, and Later Writings, edited by J. A. Leo Lemay. Library of America, 2005.

Another quote about Man as social animal

Man is a social animal.

Baruch Spinoza

Ethics

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More information about this quote
Topic
Man as social animal Nature of man

Author

Baruch Spinoza
Source
Ethics
Medium
Treatise
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
Latin
Time
1677 1670s 17th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Spinoza, Baruch. Ethica, Ordine Geometrico Desmonstrata [Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order]. 1677, pt. 4, prop. 35, note.

Current Citation

Spinoza, Benedict. Ethics, translated by Michael Silverthorne and Matthew J. Kinser. Cambridge University Press, 2018, pt. 4, prop. 35, note.

Another quote from Age of Enlightenment

The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.

Edmund Burke

More information about this quote
Topic
Relinquishing freedom Freedom

Author

Edmund Burke
Source
Speech at County Meeting of Buckinghamshire
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1784 1780s 18th century
Era
Age of Enlightenment
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Speech at a County Meeting of Buckinghamshire." 1784, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.

Another quote of the following type Opening lines

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities

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More information about this quote
Topic
Looking back

Author

Charles Dickens
Source
A Tale of Two Cities
Medium
Novel
Genre
Historical literature
Statement Type
Opening lines
Language
English
Time
1859 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Dickens, Charles. "A Tale of Two Cities." London: Chapman & Hall. April-Nov. 1859. Weekly serial.

Current Citation

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities, edited by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst. W. W. Norton & Company, 2019, bk. 1, ch. 1.