Who Is Selfish?

Who is not selfish in this world? Are all of us selfish? Do we always
think of ourselves first?

Who is not selfish in this world? Are all of us selfish? Do we always
think of ourselves first? Will you call me selfish even if I donate a
large part of my earnings? When will you call me a selfish person, and
when will you say that I am not selfish? For that which qualities are
needed in me? One more question - is selfishness bad always? Could the
world have gone so forward if people were not selfish? Selfishness and
selflessness, these two words can make us think about our society, our
values, the world in bigger perspective, and ourselves. Let us begin.

A family earns money first to feed itself. If something extra is left,
it may give a part to the society. It is for the family to decide about
how much it will save for itself first and when and how much part of its
surplus will it give to the society. If a family decides to save at
least a year's expenses for itself and begin donating only after that,
will you call it selfish? This is very subjective assessment. Am I
correct? Another family, which has saved nothing for itself but begun
donating, can call the earlier family selfish, and the earlier family
can advise the second family to save for the rainy days first. This all
sounds so confusing.

For example let us talk of two very good friends. One of them forgets to
bring a very essential thing to the examination, say - a calculator.
He/she requests the best friend to lend a calculator for the
examination, but the other friend refuses. Which of these two friends is
selfish? The person who is requesting the calculator after forgetting to
bring it, or the person who refuses to lend it? How much for myself and
how much for you? This question comes at a very stage of our life. For
example- parents will not know how to divide if all the children want
the same piece of cake. Every one of us has his/her opinion on this
subject. It is our values and emotions that govern our definition of
selfishness. Some of us may think nothing of giving away our life for
fellow countrymen and some of us horde so much wealth for themselves
that they do not know what to do with that. One can keep on talking and
presenting arguments and examples infinitum, but no two persons will
agree about this subject fully, because their perceptions are different.