QuoteProject
The private interest of the individual would not be sufficiently provided for by reasonable and cool self-love alone; therefore the appetites and passions are placed within as a guard and further security, without which it would not be taken due care of.
Joseph Butler
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Self-love is not enough to ensure individual well-being; passions and desires play a necessary role in personal security.

In this quote, Joseph Butler reflects on the complexities of human nature and the interplay between self-love and our inherent desires. He suggests that while individuals may have a rational love for themselves, it is not adequate on its own to safeguard their interests and well-being; rather, our appetites and passions act as essential elements that motivate and protect us, ensuring we take the necessary care of ourselves. This highlights the need for a balance between rationality and emotional drives in the pursuit of a fulfilling life.

Themes

Self-LovePassionsIndividual Well-BeingDesires

In practice

Example use cases

You could use this quote in a discussion about the balance between rational thinking and emotional impulses.

More from Joseph Butler

The love of liberty that is not a real principle of dutiful behavior to authority is as hypocritical as the religion that is not productive of a good life.
Joseph ButlerRead
Both our senses and our passions are a supply to the imperfection of our nature; thus they show that we are such sort of creatures as to stand in need of those helps which higher orders of creatures do not.
Joseph ButlerRead
However, without considering this connection, there is no doubt but that more good than evil, more delight than sorrow, arises from compassion itself; there being so many things which balance the sorrow of it.
Joseph ButlerRead
There is a much more exact correspondence between the natural and moral world than we are apt to take notice of.
Joseph ButlerRead
God Almighty is, to be sure, unmoved by passion or appetite, unchanged by affection; but then it is to be added that He neither sees nor hears nor perceives things by any senses like ours; but in a manner infinitely more perfect.
Joseph ButlerRead
That which is the foundation of all our hopes and of all our fears; all our hopes and fears which are of any consideration; I mean a Future Life.
Joseph ButlerRead

Similar quotes

When we speak of our virtues we are competitors, when we confess our sins we become brothers.
Karl BarthRead
Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.
Dalai LamaRead
Grief, of course, is not something that operates according to a specific time frame, and it seems cold to suggest otherwise. Yet when we do not grasp that God is present in pain, we eventually insist on victory or, worse, blame the sufferer for not "getting over it" fast enough. This is more than a failure to extend compassion; it's an exercise in cruelty.
Tullian TchividjianRead
In vain do we seek tranquility in the desert; temptations are always with us; our passions, represented by the demons, never let us alone: those monsters created by the heart, those illusions produced by the mind, those vain specters that are our errors and our lies always appear before us to seduce us; they attack us even in our fasting or our mortifications, in other words, in our very strength.
Baron De MontesquieuRead
And what I would say now is, yes, if a state enacted a law permitting flogging, it is immensely stupid, but it is not unconstitutional. A lot of stuff that's stupid is not unconstitutional.
Antonin ScaliaRead
Two loves have made two different cities: self-love hath made a terrestrial city, which rises in contempt of God; and Divine Love hath made a celestial one, which rises in contempt of self. The former glories in itself - the latter in God.
Saint AugustineRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.