<p>Question:</p>
<p>A mistakenly cynical view of human behavior holds that people are primarily driven by selfish motives: the desire for wealth, for power, or for fame. Yet history gives us many examples of individuals who have sacrificed their own welfare for a cause or a principle that they regarded as more important than their own lives. Conscience - that powerful inner voice that tells us what is right and what is wrong - can be a more compelling force than money, power, or fame.</p>
<p>Is conscience a more powerful motivator than money, fame, or power?</p>
<p>Essay:</p>
<p>Conscience is a concept people have defined as the force preventing them from hurting others. While ostensibly some may argue that conscience does not allow them to take any benefit, in reality every good behavior has a selfish reason behind it. Two characters from literature serve as compelling examples of this fact.</p>
<p>Sometimes, people take care of others to attract someone by their side. This is the case of Jay Gatsby, who throws incredibly beautiful parties to entertain foreigners, hoping that one of them will eventually be attended by his lost love, Daisy. When he sees she does not appear, he appeals to her cousin and persuades him in bringing her. After accomplishing his goal, Gatsby does not organize any party anymore. Thus, Gatsby looks for gaining something by giving the others the opportunity to have fun. No conscience is involved.</p>
<p>In other circumstances, people want to form a good impression by doing something nice. When Mr Darcy from 'Pride and Prejudice' went to prevent Lydia's marriage to Mr Wicham, he was only looking for Elisabeth to notice. He took the matter in his own hands and did not let anyone else intervene. When he eventually managed in bringing Lydia and Wicham home, he persuaded Wicham in staying together with his wife. Impressed by his behavior, Elisabeth accepted Darcy's new proposal to marry him. Darcy too had a selfish reason beyond helping a foreigner. </p>
<p>As both Franklin Scott Fitzgerald and Jane Austen have depicted in their novels, people never give away something without expecting a reward. Though sometimes it does not involve money, nor fame, nor power, every apparently selfless person looks for some sort of benefit.</p>