always egoistic, freely allowing its members to serve it, calling on them to do so, and even allowing them on occasion to injure themselves or be killed in its behalf. Many of the great "virtues" are simply practices or qualities that serve this naïve egoism of the community. If the community should itself become altruistic, it might sacrifice for individuls rather than allow them to sacrifice for it. That is, altruism taken as a universal maxim, conducts to an impasse. Only as a limit is set to it, is it really possible.[1] Perhaps some of my readers have found how difficult it is to deal with thoroughly altruistic people: they will scarcely allow us to do anything for them—they want to be ever giving, and are not willing to receive. In a way they are the most embarrassing people in the world—they frustrate our own virtue! But though, taken universally, altruism is self-contradictory, it makes an excellent, rough, practical rule for great masses of people. The community's instinct of self-preservation is behind the sanction given to it; and most actually do best when they serve others or the community, rather than themselves—the "self," in their case, not being massive or important enough to justify special attention; where individual distinctions do not stand out, many, not to say all, are more important than one.[2]
But there is another way in which egoism is indispensable—egoism now of an active sort. The view appears in sayings like these:—Love your neighbor as yourselves, but first be such as love themselves—loving with a great love and a great contempt[3] (looking down on ourselves being a condition of our rising). Grant that benevolence and beneficence make the good man, one must first be benevolent and beneficent to himself—else one is not a good man.[4] Making oneself into a whole person goes further in the direction of the general advantage than compassion towards others.[5] Hence there may be a "quite ideal selfishness."[6] It involves an art—of all arts the finest and the one requiring most patience. In practising it we learn to endure
