Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo

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

still far from being compleat and perfect objects, either of gratitude or resentment; and those passions still feel, that there is something wanting to their entire gratifi|cation. What gratitude chiefly desires, is not only to make the benefactor feel plea|sure in his turn, but to make him conscious that he meets with this reward on account of his past conduct, to make him pleased with that conduct, and to satisfy him, that the person upon whom he bestowed his good offices was not unworthy of them. What most of all charms us in our bene|factor, is the concord between his senti|ments and our own, with regard to what interests us so nearly as the worth of our own character, and the esteem that is due to us. We are delighted to find a person who values us as we value ourselves, and distinguishes us from the rest of mankind, with an attention not unlike that with which we distinguish ourselves. To main|tain in him these agreeable and flattering sentiments, is one of the chief ends pro|posed by the returns we are disposed to make to him. A generous mind often dis|dains the interested thought of extorting new favours from its benefactor, by what
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Title
The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...
Author
Smith, Adam, 1723-1790.
Canvas
Page 214
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 12, 2025.
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