101+ Heartless Selfish Quotes: Cruelty & Self-Centeredness
In the vast landscape of emotions and human interactions, there’s a corner that harbors sentiments of selfishness, cruelty, and indifference.
Heartless, selfish quotes capture the essence of these less savory aspects of human nature, shedding light on the darker side of relationships and personal motives.
Heartless selfish quotes
“In a world of heartless selfishness, kindness becomes our rebellion.”
“Don’t let heartless actions break your spirit; let them reveal your strength.”
“Selfishness is the quickest path to loneliness.”
“Sometimes, the harshest lessons come from the heartless.”
“When the world turns heartless, choose to be the warmth it needs.”
“Behind every heartless act lies a story of unhealed wounds.”
“In a world of takers, be the giver that stands out.”
“Selfishness blinds the heart but enriches the ego.”
“Sometimes, the most heartless betrayals come from those we trust the most.”
“Selfishness builds walls, while a loving heart tears them down.”
Callous Indifference
“Indifference is the strongest force in the universe. It makes everything it touches meaningless.” — Jon Stewart
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” — Albert Einstein
“The opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference.” — Elie Wiesel
“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” — Audre Lorde
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.” — J.K. Rowling
“The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice; it is conformity.” — Rollo May
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“The greatest cruelty is our casual blindness to the despair of others.” — Joanne Harris
“He who is not a good servant will not be a good master.” — Plato
“Callous indifference can be as destructive as active malice.” — Immanuel Kant
“The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people.” — Napoleon Bonaparte
“The true definition of cruelty is the cold-hearted disregard for the suffering of others.” — Gregory David Roberts
“Indifference is the epitome of all evil.” — Elie Wiesel
“Apathy can be a poison in a collective society.” — Wole Soyinka
“Indifference is the true enemy, the root of discord and hatred.” — Elie Wiesel
“The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal and hasten the resurrection of the dead.” — William Lloyd Garrison
Betrayal and deceit
“There is no greater pillar of stability than a strong, free, and educated woman. And there is no more inspiring role model than a man who respects and cherishes women and champions their leadership.” — Angelina Jolie
“Betrayal is common for men with no conscience.” — Toba Beta
“The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies; it comes from those you trust the most.” — Unknown
“Betray a friend, and you’ll often find you have ruined yourself.” — Aesop
“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” — William Blake
“For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.” — Suzanne Collins
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” — Ernest Hemingway
“Betrayal is the only truth that sticks.” — Arthur Miller
“The cruelest lies are often told in silence.” — Robert Louis Stevenson
“You were my greatest mistake, and I’ll never forgive myself for trusting you.” — Unknown
“Friendship is delicate as glass; once broken, it can be fixed, but there will always be cracks.” — Waqar Ahmed
“Sometimes, the person you’d take a bullet for ends up being the one behind the gun.” — Tupac Shakur
“The worst kind of hurt is betrayal because it means someone was willing to hurt you just to make themselves feel better.” — Unknown
“It’s hard to tell who has your back from who has it long enough just to stab you in it.” — Nicole Richie
“Betrayal is like a snake; it slithers in silently and strikes when you least expect it.” — Unknown
“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” — Charles Baudelaire
“A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.” — Aesop
Narcissism and egoism
“The only person worthy of your love is not one who overstays the welcome, but the one who you didn’t want to say goodbye to.” — Shannon L. Alder
“Egoism is the very essence of a noble soul.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
“Narcissus does not fall in love with his reflection because it is beautiful, but because it is his. If it were his beauty that enthralled him, he would be set free in a few years by its fading.” — W. H. Auden
“Egoism is the root of all evil.” — Aleister Crowley
“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live; it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.” — Oscar Wilde
“Narcissism and self-deception are survival mechanisms without which many of us might just jump off a bridge.” — Todd Solondz
“The true definition of narcissism is the belief that the world revolves around you and the world’s inability to see this.” — Criss Jami
“Egoism, which is the moving force of the world, and altruism, which is the contradiction, strike the keynote of the universe.” — Karl Liebknecht
“Narcissus weeps to find that his image does not return his love.” — Mason Cooley
“Egoism, in its modern interpretation, is, in my view, a sort of arbitrary defense of every kind of personal appetite and selfishness.” — Albert Einstein
“It is not love that is blind, but jealousy.” — Lawrence Durrell
“Narcissism, in my view, arises not so much from self-love as from self-sufficiency.” — Margaret Atwood
“Ego is a social fiction for which one person at a time gets all the blame.” — Robert Anton Wilson
“Narcissism falls along the axis of what psychologists call personality disorders, one of a group that includes antisocial, dependent, histrionic, avoidant, and borderline personalities.” — Jeffrey Kluger
“Egotism is the source and summary of all faults and miseries.” — Thomas Huxley
“Narcissism is an enemy, but a friend who does not betray.” — John Updike
“Selfishness is that detestable vice which no one will forgive in others, and no one is without in himself.” — Henry Ward Beecher
“Egotism is the birth of fault-finding.” — Thomas Guthrie
“Narcissism is the result of a feature called time.” — Ray Kurzweil
“Egoism is the very essence of a noble soul.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
Manipulation and exploitation
“Manipulation is the highest form of flattery.” — Unknown
“The first principle of power is the ability to control the environment and circumstances around you without anyone knowing it.” — Bryant McGill
“Exploitation begins with a lack of love, not a surplus of ambition.” — Mason Cooley
“In a world of manipulation, honesty is a revolutionary act.” — George Carlin
“Exploitation and manipulation are the tools of the weak.” — James C. Collins
“To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves—there lies the great, singular power of self-respect.” — Joan Didion
“Never be a prisoner of your past. It was just a lesson, not a life sentence.” — Unknown
“Manipulation, fueled with good intent, can be a blessing, but when used wickedly, it is the beginning of a magician’s karmic calamity.” — T.F. Hodge
“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” — Malcolm X
“Exploitation, I’m afraid, is the most basic of human instincts.” — Howard Zinn
“The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it and become blind to the arguments against it.” — George Bernard Shaw
“The skillful manipulator plays their tune to everyone’s dance.” — Richelle E. Goodrich
“Never allow yourself to be defined by someone else’s opinion of you.” — Unknown
“Those who manipulate the organized habits and opinions of the masses constitute an invisible government, which is the true ruling power of our country.” — Edward Bernays
“Exploitation is the flip side of convenience.” — Neal Stephenson
“If you’re going to be two-faced, at least make one of them pretty.” — Marilyn Monroe
“Don’t be a puppet; be a puppeteer.” — Jordan Hoechlin
“The art of manipulation, like language, can be learned by anyone.” — Daniel H. Pink
“The greatest manipulators know that the greatest form of control is disempowerment.” — Bryant McGill
Ruthless Ambition
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” — Albert Einstein
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the universe.” — Albert Einstein
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.” — Nelson Mandela
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” — Socrates
“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” — John Lennon
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” — Peter Drucker
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts about today.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill
“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” — Dalai Lama
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” — Chinese Proverb
“The only constant in life is change.” — Heraclitus
“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.” — Jordan Belfort
“The best revenge is massive success.” — Frank Sinatra
In the end, heartless selfish quotes act as a stark reminder that within the human experience, there is a spectrum of emotions, behaviors, and motives.
These quotes challenge us to confront these aspects of ourselves and, ideally, inspire us to strive for a more compassionate and understanding world.
