... "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
Adam Smith; most renowned as the father of modern economics. His lesser-known talent is for philosophy, or so it would seem.
How soever, I do think that the start of this line is a bit of an anomaly. He implies that no matter how selfish a person is, there are exceptional times when he does something for the sheer pleasure of seeing someone else happy. But since the pleasure derived from seeing someone else happy is his alone, isn't that selfishly motivated to begin with?
Not to be mistaken, I am in agreement with Mr Smith on this view. I am merely of the inclination that no matter how altruistic, magnanimous or municifent one might be towards an end, there is always a motivating factor behind it. It may be something as simple as going out of the way to see someone else smile or something as complex as allowing one's welfare to be sacrificed in exchange for some one else's good. There is ALWAYS a motivation... and love is normally the biggest culprit.
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