Vanity is a motive of immense potency. Anyone who has much to do with children knows how they are constantly performing some antic, and saying "Look at me". "Look at me" is one of the most fundamental desires of the human heart. It can take innumerable forms, from buffoonery to the pursuit of posthumous fame.
Source: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954,pt.2,chap.2: Politically Important Desires (Nobel Prize Acceptant Speech)
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