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Selfish Quotes – For Awareness & Inspiring Change

ByGemma Kate Last Update:

Selfish people are those who always put themselves first.

They may not do anything directly harmful to others, but they choose their own happiness over that of everyone else, despite the consequences.

Selfishness can be easily defined as behavior that maximizes personal gain without giving consideration to the effects on others.

A selfish person may be willing to share (money, time, opportunities etc), but only when they see no risk that the other individual would take more than their fair share and impact on them.

While selfishness can manifest itself in small, almost unnoticeable ways, it is sometimes so extreme that the individuals do not consider how their actions affect others.

The following quotes help to create awareness of people who are selfish, if we’re being selfish and the impact it makes to others:

 

Selfish Quotes

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. Oscar Wilde

 

The martyr sacrifices themselves entirely in vain. Or rather not in vain; for they make the selfish more selfish, the lazy more lazy, the narrow narrower. Florence Nightingale

 

Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice and is never the result of selfishness.” Napoleon Hill

 

“Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.” Richard Bach

 

“Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires.” Lao Tzu

 

“Foolish, selfish people are always thinking of themselves, and the result is always negative. Wise persons think of others, helping them as much as they can, and the result is happiness. Love and compassion are beneficial both for you and others. Through your kindness to others, your mind and heart will open to peace.” Dalai Lama

 

Selfish people also tend to have victim mindsets… Their actions plant seeds of loneliness; then they cry upon the blooming. Steve Maraboli

 

It’s enough to indulge and to be selfish but true happiness is really when you start giving back. Adrian Grenier

 

Nothing resembles selfishness more closely than self-respect. George Sand

 

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

You can’t be faulted for being selfish if you’re going to get better because of it. Jerry Lewis

 

Selfishness is that detestable vice which no one will forgive in others, and no one is without himself. Henry Ward Beecher

 

I recognize that I have the ability to be selfish, but I also recognize that you can’t be happy if you only care about yourself at the expense of other people. Russell Brand

 

I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me, if I do that well enough, then I’ll be able to look after someone else — the children or the husband or the elderly. But I have to look after myself first. I know that some people think that’s being selfish, I think that’s being self-full. Maya Angelou

 

Selfish People Quotes

 

With fools, there is no companionship. Rather than to live with men who are selfish, vain, quarrelsome, and obstinate, let a man walk alone. Buddha

 

We are all selfish and I no more trust myself than others with a good motive. Lord Byron

 

All life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and insensitive to the real values of life. The very striving and hard work that we so constantly try to avoid is the major building block in the person we are today. Pope Paul VI

 

People have this obsession. They want you to be like you were in 1969. They want you to, because otherwise their youth goes with you. It’s very selfish, but it’s understandable. Mick Jagger

 

If believing in yourself and going after what you want in life and realising your worth is ruthless and selfish, then I’m definitely ruthless and selfish. Nicole Scherzinger

 

No man will work for your interests unless they are his. David Seabury

 

The world says: “You have needs — satisfy them. You have as much right as the rich and the mighty. Don’t hesitate to satisfy your needs; indeed, expand your needs and demand more.” This is the worldly doctrine of today. And they believe that this is freedom. The result for the rich is isolation and suicide, for the poor, envy and murder. Fyodor Dostoyevsky

 

Intensely selfish people are always very decided as to what they wish. They do not waste their energies in considering the good of others. Ouida

 

Selfishness Quotes & Sayings

 

A man is called selfish not for pursuing his own good, but for neglecting his neighbor’s. Richard Whately

 

The only difference between a hero and the villain is that the villain chooses to use that power in a way that is selfish and hurts other people. Chadwick Boseman

 

Sometimes you have to be selfish to be selfless. Edward Albert

 

People are so selfish. Those you help are the ones who turn against you. Munshi Premchand

 

A selfish man is a thief. Jose Marti

 

Charity does not like arithmetic; selfishness worships it. Mason Cooley

 

Philanthropy can have a very strong selfish component. Martha Nussbaum

 

I do this for the sake of myself. It’s a selfish process. I don’t really have any expectations from anyone for your comments or your reviews or your previews. Lupe Fiasco

 

I am probably the most selfish man you will ever meet in your life. No one gets the satisfaction or the joy that I get out of seeing kids realize there is hope. Jerry Lewis

 

Tragedies make you realize how selfish you are. Tony Dorsett

 

Selfish people are, by definition, those whose activities are devoted to bringing themselves happiness. Yet. . . these selfish people are far less likely to be happy than those whose efforts are devoted to making others happy. Bernard Rimland

 

 

Being Selfish Quotes

 

Sometimes in life, you have to make a selfish decision and do what’s best for you. Saquon Barkley

 

To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don’t isolate. Michael Jordan

 

I’m selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I’m out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best. Marilyn Monroe

 

I’m just selfish. I have to be for what I do. Shia LaBeouf

 

It is easier to do one’s duty to others than to one’s self. If you do your duty to others, you are considered reliable. If you do your duty to yourself, you are considered selfish. Thomas Szasz

 

The sad thing is most people have to check with someone before they do the things that make them happy. We’re all passing through; the least we can do is be happy, and the only way to do that is by being selfish. Gene Simmons

 

Almost every sinful action ever committed can be traced back to a selfish motive. It is a trait we hate in other people but justify in ourselves. Stephen Kendrick

 

Self-care is not selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel. Eleanor Brownn

 

I have learned to go fully in the face of my dreams. I would recommend you do the same. Now is the time in your life to be selfish. To explore. To take chances. Remember being selfish is not the same as being self-indulgent. You have the gift of time. Use it to do what you love. Believe anything is possible and then work like hell to make it happen. Julianna Margulies

 

Know that truth, forgiveness, and love can heal the world. Imagine if all of us could be truthful with ourselves, start forgiving everyone, and start loving everyone. We would no longer be selfish, gossiping would be over, and we would no longer judge one another. The world would become a place where all of us live in love. Miguel Angel Ruiz

 

Funny Selfish Quotes

Yes, being selfish and having selfish people in our lives isn’t ideal, but sometimes when we can’t change something, it’s useful to at least have a laugh at it. These funny quotes about being selfish will provide a laugh at least:

 

To be stupid and selfish and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness. Though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless. Stefan Sagmeister

 

Most people are far too much occupied with themselves to be malicious. Friedrich Nietzsche

 

If there is one thing I dislike, it is the man who tries to air his grievances when I wish to air mine.  P.G. Wodehouse

 

Unless taught otherwise, children are the most selfish, oblivious little Philistines on the planet. They have no family, no job, no responsibilities, and nothing but time to think about their gluttonous, sticky selves. We should be teaching them to take some focus off of themselves and onto how they can best serve/treat others. Steven Crowder

 

I have always found it quaint and rather touching that there is a movement (Libertarians) in the US that thinks Americans are not yet selfish enough. Christopher Hitchens

 

 

If you’re interested in inspirational quotes and sayings, be sure to check out:

 

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