"Duties are not performed for duty's sake,..." - Quote by Mark Twain
Duties are not performed for duty's sake, but because their neglect would make the man uncomfortable. A man performs but one duty - the duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself.
More by Mark Twain
More on Duty
“Begin with duties of a man and rights will follow as spring follows winter”
“He was simply and staunchly true to his duty alike in the large case and in the small. So all true souls ever are. So every true soul ever was, ever is, and ever will be. There is nothing little to the really great in spirit.”
“Let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the character of his own, and his children's liberty.”
More on Self Interest
“Self-interest, or rather self-love, or egoism, has been more plausibly substituted as the basis of morality.”
“We seldom praise anyone in good earnest, except such as admire us.”
“There are various sorts of curiosity; one is from interest, which makes us desire to know that which may be useful to us; and the other, from pride which comes from the wish to know what others are ignorant of.”