Selfishness

The above title, so often put as question, deserves a thoughtful answer, more particularly because it is frequently put by truly unselfish people. Stirred to the depths of their being by the very noblest aspirations, these unselfish souls are suddenly brought face to face with serious difficulties when endeavoring to…

A son is dead. What then? A son is dead. Nothing more? Nothing. But Zeus does not order these things rightly. Why so? Because it is permitted you, While you suffer them, to be happy.—Epictetus We seldom read the resolutions of a Christian society upon the death of a member…

Thrice happy he who, far from Pleasures train,Lives to inspire the wretched and distressed,Lives to do good, and seeks no other gain,No sweeter rest.This is the grand philosophy of Life:—Go yield thine all to soothe another's woe,And battle nobly in the World's fierce strife,While here below.

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In proportion as we become self-centered by a recognition of the great importance of the "I," we come under the principle of attraction where our own comes to us. What is our own? Everything that we desire or aspire to in the process of true advancement. We often think we…

Neurotic disturbance is so much in evidence in America that it has given us an unenviable notoriety, in this direction, among the nations in general. We boast of our high civilization, but however desirable this may be, if peoples and races lower in the intellectual scale are more free from…

After twenty years’ practice as a physician, I am satisfied that much of what goes under the name of chronic disease, especially of a nervous type, has its root in selfishness—at least, a purely unselfish man or woman, with consequent tranquil happiness, I never saw who was a nervous invalid.…

Many people have very confused and erroneous ideas concerning the terms "the overcoming of self", "the eradication of desire", and "the annihilation of the personality." Some (particularly the intellectual who are prone to theories) regard it as a metaphysical theory altogether apart from life and conduct; while others conclude that…