Quotation
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“Man naturally desires, not only to be loved, but to be lovely; or to be that thing which is the natural and proper object of love.”
Adam Smith · Moral philosophy · Enlightenment · 1790 (sixth edition; the book first appeared in 1759)
What does it mean?
The usual reading is that we want to be admired and also to deserve admiration, to be the proper object of love and not only to be treated as if we were. A competing reading hears a dandy's wish to be attractive. Lovely, in his sentence, means fit to be loved, and he pairs it at once with the dread of being hateful, fit to be hated. The line opens Part III, chapter 2, of the Moral Sentiments, where he separates praise from praiseworthiness. He says the second is not derived entirely from the first. It sits in the account of the impartial spectator, the conscience that asks whether we deserve approval. Being loved without being lovely is a failure he thinks we naturally mind.
Did Adam Smith really say this?
The library’s label is Well attested. Smith's own English, the opening of Part III, chapter 2, in the sixth edition, the last he prepared. The chapter distinguishes love of praise from love of praiseworthiness. The sentence is not in The Wealth of Nations.
Where it comes from
The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part III, chapter 2 (text of the sixth edition, 1790)
Approximate date: 1790 (sixth edition; the book first appeared in 1759).
How to use it
An employee in a Bristol charity who wants the thank-you email more than the work the email names has pursued being loved and skipped being lovely. The sentence does not condemn gratitude. It says the desire to deserve the regard is a different desire, and Smith thinks it is natural, not a philosopher's extra. A person who would rather be praised than be the kind of colleague the praise describes has the gap the chapter is about. The spectator is how he thinks you notice.
A mindset reading
Ask whether you want the regard or the desert of it, and do not assume they move together. The habit is uncomfortable because praise can be had by managing appearances, while praiseworthiness cannot. He is not saying ignore other people. The desire to be lovely is still a social desire. It is judged from the point of view of someone who sees you without your excuses.
Understand the philosophy
The Theory of Moral Sentiments builds conscience out of sympathy. Part III turns the spectator onto ourselves. The key distinction in chapter 2 is praise and praiseworthiness, blame and blameworthiness. This sentence is the love side of that distinction. The butcher and the baker, in The Wealth of Nations, are a different book. Using this line to say Smith was not really interested in self-interest is a muddle. He thought both the moral desire and the commercial one were real.
- ethics
- self
- love
FAQ
What does it mean?
The usual reading is that we want to be admired and also to deserve admiration, to be the proper object of love and not only to be treated as if we were. A competing reading hears a dandy's wish to be attractive. Lovely, in his sentence, means fit to be loved, and he pairs it at once with the dread of being hateful, fit to be hated. The line opens Part III, chapter 2, of the Moral Sentiments, where he separates praise from praiseworthiness. He says the second is not derived entirely from the first. It sits in the account of the impartial spectator, the conscience that asks whether we deserve approval. Being loved without being lovely is a failure he thinks we naturally mind.
Did Adam Smith really say this?
Well attested. Smith's own English, the opening of Part III, chapter 2, in the sixth edition, the last he prepared. The chapter distinguishes love of praise from love of praiseworthiness. The sentence is not in The Wealth of Nations.
Which work is it in?
The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part III, chapter 2 (text of the sixth edition, 1790) Approximate date: 1790 (sixth edition; the book first appeared in 1759).