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AlOchanaamR^itaM
Charity and altruism are often
essentially egoistic in their immediate motive.
They are stirred by the discomfort of the sight of suffering to the
nervous
system or by the pleasurableness of others' appreciation of our
kindliness or by
the egoistic self-appreciation of our own benevolence or by the need of
indulgence in sympathy. There are philanthropists who would be troubled
if the
poor were not always with us, for they would then have no field for
their
charity...
Nor is detailed sympathy and alleviation of particular sufferings the
only help
that can be given to men. To cut down branches of a man's tree of
suffering is
good, but they grow again; to aid him to remove its roots is still more
divine
helpfulness.
- Sri Aurobindo (January 1915, India's Rebirth pp. 112)