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Pure altruism is a rare and difficult quality, remote from the actuality of human conditions. The cautious person is also entitled to ask whether it is justifiable, whether a man is not entitled to do justice to himself as well as to others. The obvious reply is that there is no reason why his own good should not be included in that of the whole community. It is an arguable question whether the Buddhist story of a man who gave his own body to feed a starving tigress acted very wisely, although we must admit that he acted most generously.

-- Notebooks Category 6: Emotions and Ethics > Chapter 1 : Uplift Character > # 407