Selfishness vs.

Selflessness

There is no selfessness that does not have its deepest and most hidden roots in selfishness. If we
unconditionally care for people, it is just because somewhere inside our soul we expect them to love us back
and treat us in the same manner. Thus, the actions that might be considered altruistic, have in fact the
purpose to make man feel good about himself and to flatter his ego, although few ever addmit or even realize
it. If the situation was exactly like that, then all of mankind’s moral problems would be somehow solved.
Eveyone would set forth the perfect excuse for not being unselfish, which is, that unelfishness does not really
exist. Consequently, those who would preach altruism would aim at an imaginary virtue, and the others
would be free from any constraints and could act as they pleased.
Unfortunatelly for all those who are waiting impatiently for some scientific magazine to declare that
the gene of selfishness has been discovered in every human body, the “cruel” reality tells otherwise. In this
frenetic world where everything seems to be turning upside down, where values which have been considered
sacred for ages are now thrown to the trashcan, altruism, this incredible attribute of the spirit, can still be
traced in our hearts, even though hidden under layers and layers of indifference. Just as the stars shine
brighter when the sky is darker, in the same way, the more people will contest selflessness, the stronger it
will make its presence felt.
It is not true that kind people are always repayed as they deserve, on the contray they often suffer a
great deal because of their goodness, for the reason that people can easely take advantage of them. For the
one who has a noble heart, it is difficult to understand how evil operates in the world, not because he would
not have the capacity but because his inner self is not connected to such a root and so, what is not
intrinsically his cannot be fully perceived. As a famous phylosopher once said, selfless people reject even the
term of “evil” and they do not want to know about it precisely in order not to fall in its trap, so that they
could preserve their soul.
Through their love for others, selfless people deepen their soul with feelings and concepts unknown
to the rest of the world. Selfish men, on the other hand, care only for themselves, never asking whether they
truly have something to love or whether they worth anything. Perhaps if they did, some would discover that,
in fact, what they adore and treasure so much is merely a pale image of a human being, just a well preserved
body which has nothing but a big empty hole inside. Blinded by their huge egos, these people will never
experience the wonderful joy of just being nice to a person, nor will they know how it feels to make a
sacrifice for the one they love and be happy about it. Self-centred men find pleasure into others serving them
but how surprised they would be if they for once felt the joy of them helping the ones in need.
Man is indeed an imperfect being and, as Dali said, “shouldn’t be afraid of perfection as he will
never touch it”. That is why selfless people do not really have any valid argument in favour of how they are,
except pehaps that this is the way they are, which is often used as an excuse. What a pity that we are not
strong enough to fight our indifference and superficiality and only for a moment try the other path! The
magical chance that might occur in our soul worths the risk of being laughted at and sometimes wrongly
understood. Self-content comes from the inside and if the world does not accept us like that it does not
matter as long as we still have ourselves. The man who wisely possesses his heart has indeed the earth as his
feet, and is ready to share it with all mankind.

Alexandra Matei