I get where you are coming from. However.
There is a truly ancient tradition that, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it."
In fact, this notion is older than Christ, as it was essentially what Gautama Buddha said.
IOW, we will not and cannot find happiness directly by trying to make ourselves happy, or at least most people can't.
We achieve true happiness by forgetting ourselves and working for something other and greater.
This is by no means a leftist concept, though they've taken it over by making the default assumption one that the good of the collective is the higher cause for which we should all work.
“There is a truly ancient tradition that, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it.”
Sounds like a pretty “selfish” statement on the part of the speaker. :) He wants people to lose their lives for HIS sake.
I was also quite shocked to read the following “selfish” statement in the bible...
“You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:4-5).”
And aren’t we made in the image of God?
But leaving theology aside for the moment and focusing on “human nature”, what each one of us is motivated by, I don’t think you would disagree that the “pursuit of happiness” (as defined by each one of us) is the driving force behind everything we do.
Since each one of us is different, we each pursue whatever it is that makes us happy. We each look out for our self interest first and foremost.
The thing that the “altruistic” crowd don’t get is that in looking out for our self interest in most instances (and as a byproduct) we also help others.
A businessman will be most successful when he provides a service or product that increases the happiness of his customers. Thus in the process of being “selfish” (watching out for his interest, making himself happy) he makes many others happy. Just think of the millions of people Steve Gates and Steve Jobs enriched and made happy as a byproduct of pursuing their own happiness.
And what about Mother Teresa, you might ask? Was she being “selfish”? My answer would be yes. The thing that drove her to do what she did was that it pained her to see orphaned children suffering, and to relieve HER pain she did what she did, and I’m sure she got lots of joy and satisfaction from helping those kids.
My point is that being “selfish” is not “bad” - it simply IS what we are - it’s a fact of human nature. Another fact of human nature is that we are also “compassionate” - the two are not exclusive. (By the way, the act of compassion itself could be viewed as “selfish” - it feels good helping others.)