August 11, 2009 Loving Others, Loving Self

Since I am human and you are human, to love humans means to love myself as well as you. To be dedicated to human spiritual development is to be dedicated to the race of which we are a part, and this therefore means dedication to our own development as well as "theirs."
Indeed, we are incapable of loving another unless we love ourselves, just as we are incapable of teaching our children self-discipline unless we ourselves are self-disciplined.
It is actually impossible to forsake our own spiritual development in favor of someone else's. We cannot forsake self-discipline and at the same time be disciplined in our care for another. We cannot be a source of strength unless we nurture our own strength. The more we reflect on the nature of love, I believe the more it becomes clear that not only do self-love and love of others go hand in hand, but that ultimately they are indistinguishable.

-M. Scott Peck