“Jill, of all the nonsense that twists the world, the concept of 'altruism' is the worst. People do what they want to do, every time. If it sometimes pains them to make a choice - if the choice turns out to look like a 'noble sacrifice' - you can be sure that it is in no wise nobler than the discomfort caused by greediness . . . the unpleasant necessity of having to decide between two things both of which you would like to do when you can't do both. The ordinary bloke suffers that discomfort every day, every time he makes a choice between spending a buck on beer or tucking it away for his kids, between getting up when he's tired or spending the day in his warm bed and losing his job. No matter which he does he always chooses what seems to hurt least or pleasures most. The average chump spends his life harried by these small decisions. But the utter scoundrel and the perfect saint merely make the same choices on a larger scale. They still pick what pleases them.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land
"Džil, od svih besmislica koje izvrću svet, koncept 'altruizma' je najgora. Ljudi rade ono što žele, svaki put. Ako ih nekada boli da načine izbor - ako se ispostavi da taj izbor izgleda kao 'plemenita žrtva' - možeš biti sigurna da nije nimalo plemenitiji nego onaj izazvan nelagodnošću koja proističe iz pohlepe... neprijatna nužnost biranja između dve stvari koje obe želiš da uradiš kada ne možeš obe. Običan čovek pati od ovakve neprijatnosti svakog dana, svaki put kada mora da napravi izbor između trošenja para na pivo ili uštede istog za svoju decu, između ustajanja kada je umoran ili provođenja dana u svom toplom krevetu što će ga koštati njegovog posla. Bez obzira šta uradi on uvek odabere ono što mu se čini da najmanje boli ili najviše zadovoljava. Prosečni čovek provede svoj život pod opsadom ovih malih odluka. Ali najgori probisvet i savršeni svetac biraju iste izbore samo na većoj skali. Uvek biraju ono što ih zadovoljava".