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About this quote

What does it mean?
To love justice and equality, people need not be virtuous; self‑love is enough.
In plain terms
Self‑love is enough for people to desire justice and equality.
What can you take from it?
Cultivate self‑respect to foster demand for fairness.

Where it applies

  • social activism
  • personal development

Putting it to work

  • promote self‑esteem programs
  • link personal rights to collective justice

Questions to consider

  • Can self‑love coexist with concern for others?
  • What motivates people beyond self‑interest?

Another view

Self‑love alone may not guarantee altruistic behavior.

More from Maximilien Robespierre

  1. A nation is truly corrupt, when, after having by degrees lost its character and liberty, it slides from democracy into aristocracy or monarchy; this is the dea…

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  2. Any law which violates the inseparable rights of man is essentially unjust and tyrannical; it is not a law at all.

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  3. The general will rules in society as the private will governs each separate individual.

    Permalink to quote #14

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