Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo

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

highest idea of it himself, was the great and ••xalted motive of his conduct. As even in ••he love of virtue, therefore, there is still some ••eference; tho' not to what is, yet to what in ••eason and propriety ought to be, the opinion of others, there is even in this respect some ••ffinity between it, and the love of true glory. There is, however, at the same time, a very great difference between them. The man who acts solely from a regard to what is right ••nd fit to be done, from a regard to what is ••he proper object of esteem and approbation, ••ho' these sentiments should never be bestowed ••pon him, acts from the most sublime and godlike motive which human nature is even ••apable of conceiving. The man, on the other ••and, who while he desires to merit appro|••ation, is at the same time anxious to obtain ••t, tho' he too is laudable in the main, yet ••is motives have a greater mixture of human ••nfirmity. He is in danger of being morti|••ied by the ignorance and injustice of man|••ind, and his happiness is exposed to the envy ••f his rivals, and the folly of the publick. The happiness of the other, on the contrary, is ••ltogether secure and independent of fortune, ••nd of the caprice of those he lives with.
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Title
The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...
Author
Smith, Adam, 1723-1790.
Canvas
Page 481
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 13, 2025.
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