Very coincidentally, I was searching one of my top ten books "A Handmade Life" by William Coperthwaite for another quote, and I saw this one about "enlightened selfishness"
"We have been taught that 'selfishness' is bad, and in general, this is a useful and necessary rule. As a society we condemn selfishness as too great a concern for one's own being. Narrow, crabbed, ignorant selfishness hurts others and ourselves.
"Yet this principle may be at odds with a more inclusive conception of the social body. Perhaps the problem is not selfishness, because it is normal for an organism to be concerned with its own welfare, but rather shortsighted or unenlightened selfishness that supposes it can achieve well-being at the expense of others.
"When we see the social body as an extension of ourselves, narrow definitions of selfishness drop away. What we need is not less selfishness but a less narrow selfishness. We need selfishness that's enlightened, to the point where we see that our welfare is inextricably intertwingled with the welfare of all. Through enlightened selfishness I can recognized my neighbor's need as my own."