Preaching Selfishness

I am teaching an intelligent regard for the preservation and nourishment of the Self - not the professional self, but the human being who lurks in all of us, and whom we so often neglect and ill-use. If we pay any attention to this human being - this Self - at all, it is usually to scold the poor thing for not being more than it is - for not being saintly, or valorous, or untiring. We never seem to take time to feed it, clothe it, encourage it, love it, and forgive it.

Robertson Davies: Preaching Selfishness