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Men follow their sentiments and their self-interest, but it pleases them to imagine that they follow reason. And so they look for, and always find, some theory which, a posteriori, makes their actions appear to be logical. If that theory could be demolished scientifically, the only result would be that another theory would be substituted for the first one, and for the same purpose.

— Vilfredo Pareto

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More quotes by Vilfredo Pareto

Society is not homogeneous, and those who do not deliberately close their eyes have to recognize that men differ greatly from one another from the physical, moral, and intellectual viewpoints.

When it is useful to them, men can believe a theory of which they know nothing more than its name.

For a very long time, and among a large number of peoples, political power has belonged to the owners of the land.

History is a graveyard of aristocracies.

The assertion that men are objectively equal is so absurd that it does not even merit being refuted.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Vilfredo Pareto (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.