The only
possible solution of the deadlock lies in the killing-off of the
selfish impulses.
This is not a fantastic dream. We see in the ideal mother, father,
husband, wife, in the ardent patriot and religious devotee, this
sloughing-off of the egoistic nature already accomplished. Love, and
joy in service, are not alien to us; they are as instinctive as self-
seeking; the hope of ultimate peace lies in the strengthening of these
impulses till they so dominate us that we no longer care for the
selfish and narrow aims. We must cultivate the masculine aspect of
unselfishness, the loyalty of the Greeks, the impulse to stand by and
fight for others; and we must cultivate its more feminine side, the
caritas of I Corinthians XIII, the love that suffereth long and is
kind, the sympathy and tenderness infused into a rough and rugged world
by Christianity. In this highest developed life there will then be
no dualism of motive; at the top of the ladder of moral progress
individual and social goods coincide. It is joy to the righteous to
do righteousness; it is the keenest delight in life for the lover of
men to serve.
The unselfish impulse has thus a double value; it blesseth him that
gives and him that takes. It is more blessed to give than to receive,
when the giver has reached the moral level where giving is his greatest
joy. The development of sympathy and the spirit of service in modern
times gives great hope that the time will come when men will
universally find a rich and satisfying life in ways which bring no
harm but only good to others.
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