Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo

The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...

it. Tho' his own happiness may be of more importance to him than that of all the world besides, to every other person it is of no more consequence than that of any other man. Tho' it may be true, therefore, that every individual, in his own breast, na|turally prefers himself to all mankind, yet he dares not look mankind in the face, and avow that he acts according to this princi|ple. He feels that in this preference they can never go along with him, and that how natural soever it may be to him, it must always appear excessive and extrava|gant to them. When he views himself in the light in which he is conscious that others will view him, he sees that to them he is but one of the multitude in no respect bet|ter than any other in it. If he would act so as that the impartial spectator may en|ter into the principles of his conduct, which is what of all things he has the greatest desire to do, he must, upon this, as upon all other occasions, humble the arrogance of his self-love, and bring it down to some|thing which other men can go along with. They will indulge it so far as to allow him to be more anxious about, and to pursue with more earnest assiduity, his own happi|ness
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Title
The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...
Author
Smith, Adam, 1723-1790.
Canvas
Page 182
Publication
London :: printed for A. Millar; and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh,
1759.

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"The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ..." In the digital collection Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eccodemo/k111361.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 14, 2025.
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