Pride is founded not on the sense of happiness, but on the sense of power.
William HazlittRead
The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True liberty involves caring for others, while a desire for power often stems from self-interest.
This quote by William Hazlitt emphasizes the distinction between two types of love: the love of liberty that fosters a spirit of community and care for others, and the love of power that is rooted in self-serving motives. Hazlitt suggests that genuine freedom is inherently linked to compassion and a concern for the well-being of others, while the pursuit of power can lead to selfishness and a lack of empathy.
Themes
LibertyLovePowerSelflessnessCommunity
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social justice, one might use the quote to highlight the importance of selfless love.
More from William Hazlitt
All quotes βThe world loves to be amused by hollow professions, to be deceived by flattering appearances, to live in a state of hallucination; and can forgive everything but the plain, downright, simple, honest truth.
William HazlittRead
Our repugnance to death increases in proportion to our consciousness of having lived in vain.
William HazlittRead
We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit.
William HazlittRead
There are few things in which we deceive ourselves more than in the esteem we profess to entertain for our firends. It is little better than a piece of quackery. The truth is, we think of them as we please, that is, as they please or displease us.
William HazlittRead
Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater. Possession pampers the mind; privation trains and strengthens it.
William HazlittRead
Similar quotes
Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth
Albert CamusRead
That's a spiritual lifestyle, being willing to admit that you don't know everything and that you were wrong about some things. It's about making a list of all the people you've harmed, either emotionally or physically or financially, and going back and making amends. That's a spiritual lifestyle. It's not a fluffy ethereal concept.
Anthony KiedisRead
Chaos is merely order waiting to be deciphered
Jose SaramagoRead
If you correct your hidden deeds subsequently, Allaah will correct your outward deeds.
Ibn TaymiyyahRead
I started off believing all men were equal. I now know that's the most unlikely thing ever to have been, because millions of years have passed over evolution, people have scattered across the face of this earth, been isolated from each other, developed independently, had different intermixtures between races, peoples, climates, soils... I didn't start off with that knowledge. But by observation, reading, watching, arguing, asking, that is the conclusion I've come to.
Lee Kuan YewRead
Cheap medical care is one of the most expensive things there is. So long as politicians can create the illusion of something for nothing, that gets them votes, which is what it is all about, as far as they are concerned.
Thomas SowellRead