Being
Selfish

You know,

it seems like the most normal thing in the world for humans to want things for themselves.

They need food and drink

and clothes and shelter,

if they are to stay alive in the world,

so how can it be bad to want things?

But what humans actually need for themselves is really very little

compared to the amount that they can want.

So just because they have a lot

doesn't mean that they don't want more and more.

But the more that they take, the less there is for other people,

and those other people might still need things to be able to live.

Of course we have to want what we need,

but after that it can't be good to think about what we want

without also thinking about other people,

and whether their need is more than our wants.

But the Vices are very strong, so people's want for things is strong,

and they can feel very unhappy if they don't get what they want.

And even worse, wanting can never make us happy.

Wanting is never satisfied.

If we get to eat the food we need, and just keep on eating

we get to a point where we are so full that we can't eat any more and have to stop.

But when we want things,

whatever we get, there is always more that we don't have,

which we can still want.

So getting one thing doesn't take away the longing for something else,

which is why we need to learn to control these feelings.

We need to remember that thinking only about ourselves

isn't always what is best for us.

It doesn't make us happy.

Human babies are born into the world selfish.

They don't know much about the needs of other people.

They just know that it hurts when they are hungry,

and if they make enough noise someone fills them up and takes the pain away.

But as babies get older, they learn about other people,

and that they share this world together,

and over time they learn to control those feelings

which tell them that they are the only ones that matter.

They learn that to be truly happy we need to think of other people as well as ourselves.