Gratitude: An imaginary emotion that rewards an imaginary behavior, altruism. Both imaginaries are false faces for selfishness, which is a real and honest emotion.

Summary

This quote argues that gratitude and altruism are not genuine emotions but rather deceptive masks for selfishness. It suggests that gratefulness is an imaginary emotion that falsely rewards the supposed selfless behavior of altruism. The underlying idea is that people only demonstrate gratitude and pretend to be selfless as a means to serve their own selfish interests. According to this perspective, selfishness is considered to be a genuine and honest emotion while gratitude and altruism are merely disguises for one's self-centeredness.

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