“All human activity is prompted by desire. There is a wholly fallacious theory advanced by some earnest moralists to the effect that it is possible to resist desire in the interests of duty and moral principle. I say this is fallacious, not because no man ever acts from a sense of duty, but because duty has no hold on him unless he desires to be dutiful. If you wish to know what men will do, you must know not only, or principally, their material circumstances, but rather the whole system of their desires with their relative strengths”.
Bertrand Russell accepting his Nobel prize in 1950
12 Comments
Interesting quote! What stood out for me is how close Bertrand’s assertions are to modern economic theory. The heart of economics is the belief that people act rationally in their (self-defined) best interest.
A great quote indeed it is truly inspirational, Bertrand Russell was in my eyes an influential figure who achieved so much.
Very interesting quote, and of course very true. I was just talking with a few members of my team today about something similar. Rather than work against our desires and have to put up artificial constructs to keep us on the straight and narrow in spite of our desires, I think that we could be a lot more effective if we made sure our desires were in line with or desires – we’d work harder and happier if we knew that we were working toward our desired outcome.
Great quote that perfectly ties in to what MindSonar is trying to do. It would be amazing if the time came when everyone’s self-interests were tied into global interests as a whole. Maybe then we would all work together better. In my mind, some countries are already in line with that way of thinking, but I haven’t seen too much of that here in the U.S. unfortunately. 🙁
The desire is pure energy, some of them are looking for deterrence, but in the end, always look for outputs, such as the water that comes out even in another way. It is better, I think, focus on the positive way to satisfy the desire and where it comes from – what form – that suppress it although I see many rules that seek inhibit a desire without providing alternatives and that causes problems. What color is someone to be passed by inhibiting their wishes? Turquoise? Green? Red?