"The motives of the best actions will..." - Quote by Jonathan Swift
The motives of the best actions will not bear too strict an inquiry. It is allowed that the cause of most actions, good or bad, may be resolved into the love of ourselves; but the self-love of some men inclines them to please others, and the self-love of others is wholly employed in pleasing themselves. This makes the great distinction between virtue and vice.
More by Jonathan Swift
“Possession, they say, is eleven points of the law.”
“He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers, which were to be put into vials hermetically sealed, and let out to warm the air in raw, inclement summers.”
“Invention is the talent of youth, as judgment is of age.”
More on Self Love
“One man runs to his neighbor because he is looking for himself, and another because he wants to loose himself. Your bad love of yourselves makes solitude a prison for you.”
“You look at yourself and you accept yourself for who you are, and once you accept yourself for who you are you become a better person.”
“Be gentle and forgiving with yourself, abandon any and all shame, and refuse to engage in any self-repudiation.”