Peter Schwartz > Quotes

“What altruism demands is the payment of a debt—an unchosen moral debt you owe to others.”
― Peter Schwartz, In Defense of Selfishness: Why the Code of Self-Sacrifice is Unjust and Destructive

“If people believe they have unmet needs, you are legally required to meet them. You may not insist that a person’s actual interests are not advanced by irrational means—by coercion, by fraud, by injustice. You may not tell the needy that what they truly need is the opposite: a system in which individual rights are respected, force and deception are outlawed and justice is upheld. You may not admonish them to live off their own efforts rather than mooch off the work of others. You may not tell them they are harming themselves by seeking the unearned. If they believe they are entitled to your sacrifices, it is selfish of you to value your judgment over theirs.”
― Peter Schwartz, In Defense of Selfishness: Why the Code of Self-Sacrifice is Unjust and Destructive