85 Selfish Quotes

Selfish people have little consideration for others and are largely focused on their own personal gain or advancement. It can be difficult to navigate situations when you are dealing with selfish or jealous people. They can be self-centered and narcissistic, leading to toxic relationships where their only concern is getting their way. It’s okay to put yourself first sometimes, and there’s nothing wrong with being proud of the hard work you’ve put into achieving success. While we all have a bit of natural selfishness inside of us, it’s not cool to always put your own interests ahead of everyone around you. And we all know someone—a co-worker, a family member, a toxic friend—who does exactly that! If you have a selfish person in your life, here are some of the best selfish quotes to give you a different perspective on dealing with them. This list also includes quotes about being selfish and self-centered and a section of quotes about being selfless. Hopefully one of these quotes will inspire you to look out for selfish tendencies and thank those in your life who are great at thinking of others.

Selfish Quotes

“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.” ― Oscar Wild
“Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.” ― Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
“Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure.” — Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
“Selfishness comes from poverty in the heart, from the belief that love is not abundant.” — Don Miguel Ruiz
“Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race.” — William E. Gladstone
“Don’t fear the enemy that attacks you, but the fake friend that hugs you.” — Unknown
“Selfishness and greed, individual or national, cause most of our troubles.” — Harry S. Truman
“Glory, built on selfish principles, is shame and guilt.” — William Cowper
“Selfish people tend to only be good to themselves… then are surprised when they are alone.” — Steve Maraboli
“It is interesting how the selfish, the ignorant, and the constantly angry all tend to be the same person.” — Wayne Gerard Trotman
“Selfishness keeps man blind through life.” — Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Bowl of Saki
“Almost every sinful action ever committed can be traced back to a selfish motive. It’s a trait we hate in other people but justify in ourselves.” — Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare
“The poison of selfishness destroys the world.” — Catherine of Siena
“Selfishness, not love, is the actuating motive of the gallant.” — Madame Roland
“You can’t expect to have a deep relationship with a shallow person.” — Doe Zantamata
“Someone who smiles too much with you can sometimes frown too much with you at your back.” — Michael Bassey Johnson
“Selfish: a judgment readily passed by those who have never tested their power of sacrifice.” — George Eliot
“A false friend and a shadow attend only while the sun shines.” — Benjamin Franklin
“Selfishness is when you only remember a friend if you need something from them.” — Unknown
“The most selfish people are the ones who do not love themselves.” — Nikolai Berdyaev
“The real measure of selfishness is by asking a person how much he is willing to sacrifice.” — Unknown
“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, Wanda, Countess von Szalras
“No man is more cheated than the selfish man.” — Henry Ward Beecher
“What a cage is to the wild beast, law is to the selfish man.” — Herbert Spencer
“Be warned: A person content to sit with you and criticize others will speak critically of you out of earshot.” — Richelle E Goodrich
“Better not to plant seeds of selfishness than try to eradicate them once they have grown into giant weeds.” — Prem Prakash, The Yoga of Spiritual Devotion
“A person is called selfish, not for pursuing his or her own good, but for neglecting his or her neighbor’s.” — Richard Whately
“Selfishness is the root and source of all natural and moral evils.” — Nathaniel Emmons
“Selfishness creates greed and greed destroys the soul.” — Zarina Bibi
“Selfishness stops the flow of blessings to you and others.” — Brenda Johnson Padgitt
“In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction.” — David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
“Selfishness is weakness. But loving and caring for others is a position of power beyond anything we can possibly imagine.” — Joel Osteen
“Insecurities, betrayal, and selfishness are the things that will never make you a happy person.” — Unknown
“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
“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
“Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish.” — Richard Dawkins
“There is only one force stronger than selfishness, and that is stupidity.” — Ellen Glasgow
“Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.” — Khalil Gibran
“A selfish friend invites you into their maze of painful emotions and then traps you there.” — Christina J. Daniels
“A selfish man doesn’t care if his best friend drowns beside him.” — Joe Cervantes
“Selfishness is a swamp that sucks in all and gives back nothing.” — John Thornton

Selfish Quotes About Being Self-Centered

“To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others.” ― Albert Camus
“Selfishness may result in one’s sense of superiority, but life as such will surely deny them.” — Eraldo Banovac
“It is the ignorant person who seeks his or her own ends at the expense of the greater whole. It is the ignorant person, therefore, who is the selfish person. The truly wise person is never selfish.” — Ralph Waldo Trine
“Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion.” — Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships
“A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.” — Ben Franklin
“Even a tiny bit of deceit is dishonorable when it’s used for selfishness or cowardly reasons.” — Jeanne Birdsall
“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
“Self-centered people have only one topic to talk about—themselves.” — Stef Harder
“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.
“Selfish persons are incapable of loving others, but they are not capable of loving themselves either.” — Erich Fromm
“Putting yourself first is not selfish. Thinking about yourself constantly is selfish. Please respect the difference.” — Unknown
“There are many selfish people who are extremely original, then they take those pure ideas and use them to raise themselves up. That is an insincere move.” — Daniel Smith
“Selfishness is the making a man’s self his own centre, the beginning and end of all he doeth.” — John Owen
“This idea of selfishness as a virtue, as opposed to generosity: That, to me, is unnatural.” — Jessica Lange
“Those who do not hate their own selfishness and regard themselves as more important than the rest of the world are blind because the truth lies elsewhere.” — Blaise Pascal
“Selfish people lost so much in life because even when they realize they are wrong, they don’t know how to ask for forgiveness or show regrets.” — Unknown
“The most miserable people are those who care only about themselves, understand only their own troubles, and see only their own perspective.” — Unknown
“Who wants everything every time will lose everything anytime.” — Vikrant Parsai
“Selfishness is the most unattractive virtue a mortal can possess.” — Suyasha Subedi
“Having trouble spotting a selfish person? It´s about their schedule, their needs, their hurt feelings, their ideas, their goals, their…” — Shannon Thomas

Quotes About Not Being Selfish and Self-Love

“Please hold onto your kindness. We share the world with many selfish beings and we need open hearts to create change.” — Nikki Rowe
“It’s enough to indulge and to be selfish but true happiness is really when you start giving back.” — Adrian Grenier 64.“Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.” ― Lao Tzu
“We all should rise, above the clouds of ignorance, narrowness, and selfishness.” — Booker T. Washington, The Story of My Life and Work
“Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice and is never the result of selfishness.” — Napoleon Hill
“Giving yourself some loving attention is not selfish. It is sensible. If you feel loved and cherished—even if it is only by yourself—then you will have more love to give to others, too.” — Penelope Quest, Reiki for Life
“One who is unselfish can begin to care for one who is selfish. But one who is selfish will care only for himself.” — Unknown
“We are selfish but be wise selfish rather than foolish, self-sided selfish.” — Dalai Lama
“A relationship runs with selfless love, not selfish” — Urvashi Agarwal
“Ego is impurity. Be selfless. Consecrate and dedicate your life to perfection.” — Frederick Lenz
“Nothing resembles selfishness more closely than self-respect.” — George Sand, Indiana
“It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.” — Unknown
“Sometimes you just need to be selfish and take care of you. if they love you, they’ll understand.” — Robert Tew
“Be kind enough to everyone that no one would ever doubt you to be selfish even if you are.” — Unknown
“God creates us free, free to be selfish, but He adds a mechanism that will penetrate our selfishness and wake us up to the presence of others in this world, and that mechanism is called suffering.” — William Nicholson
“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
“Sometimes you have to be selfish to be selfless.” — Edward Albert
“It’s good to be selfish. But not so self-centered that you never listen to other people.” —Hugh Hefner
“While selfishness joins hands with no one of the virtues, benevolence is allied to them all.” — Oliver Goldsmith
“Love is the highest act of selfishness, the best gift you can give to yourself.” — Bernard Werber 83. “Selfishness at the expense of others is bad. Self-care for the betterment of others is good.” — Richie Norton
“Be selfish enough to have self-love, self-worth and self-respect.” — Unknown
“Selfishness is a gift of nature. Unselfishness is an accomplishment.” — Joseph Mayer Next, check out these quotes about self-respect and respecting others.