Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on July 3, 2004.
No matter how much we try to think of others and be compassionate and giving human beings, we always put ourselves first and most importantly foremost. There is nothing "bad" about this - this is the Nature of all human beings. I am sure this comes from our natural survival instinct which we are born with. Thinking of ourselves enables us to survive in this world and live a fulfilled and complete life and is not “selfishness.” Selfishness is something different - much more small-minded and narrowed viewed.
Please learn to distinguish between your rights in Life in fulfilling yourself, putting yourself in the center of your world and something we call selfishness which is acting in a self-centered and hurtful way towards ourselves and toward others.
There is a big difference here which we must learn to understand about ourselves and the relationship we have with the others around us as well. . . .
Aikido should not be a projection of our egos, but a deep, profound and sincere discovery of our true self through practice. In Aikido, this True Self is seen in the relationship with the world around us. With Nature, the True Self is never an exclusive entity. This is the meaning of harmony.