He was right, and as he spoke neither his look, tone, nor manner displeased me; my
AMOUR-PROPRE was propitiated; he had not addressed me out of condescension, but because, having repaired to the cool dining-room for refreshment, he now wanted some one to talk to, by way of temporary amusement.
`You see how it is,' he said to me, `where there is no chivalry, there is no
amour-propre.' When I met him on his rounds now, I thought he carried his head more disdainfully than ever, and strode up the steps of front porches and rang doorbells with more assurance.
In the country, people have less pretension to knowledge, and are less of companions, but for that reason they affect one's
amour-propre less: one makes less bad blood, and can follow one's own course more quietly."
Rousseau distinguished two forms of self-love, amour de soi and
amour-propre. The former is a natural desire for self-preservation, and is always wholesome.
Touche dans son
amour-propre, Madoui ne manquera d'ailleurs pas d'annoncer son depart de l'equipe.
Once the shop had opened - in a grand two-and-a-half story facade designed to satisfy Westboro's
amour-propre - Westboro's downtown traffic woes remained about what they had always been.
The
amour-propre that sustains them in their delusions of omnipotence is punctured by the raucous irreverence of those who guffaw at their unsmiling menace.
Then, Rawls comes to Rousseau and discusses the issues of general will and
amour-propre. Finally, Marx is understood as criticizing liberalism and capitalism from the point of view of justice.
The notion of
amour-propre is identified by Neuhouser as the foundation upon which Rousseau's diagnosis of the ills of modern civil society, his vision of a just society where everyone joins in the formation of a communal will and enjoys protection while remaining as free as beforehand, his "negative education" aimed at cultivating autonomy, and other aspects of his work all rest.
Rousseau's reasoning lies embedded in his view of
amour-propre.
Amour-propre, a delicious term best left untranslated, suggests vanity, conceit, love of power, self-love, selfishness, or (least satisfying of all) self-esteem.
Life is a complex of business-like ruses, all based on self-preservation, self-pity, self-esteem, personal pleasure and all other forms of selfishness." This is true, but, for La Rochefoucauld, terminology is important, and the dominant motivation which he identifies is
amour-propre, self-love.
The accommodation of La Rochefoucauld's text to the contemporary intellectual climate is also seen in the translator's own commentaries, particularly his refutation of the famous maxim on
amour-propre, the opening remark in the first French edition, here no.