Habituating egoism: It is a horrible injustice to diminish your self in reaction to other people’s bad behavior.

I’ve been talking, this week, about mananging conflict egoistically by reflecting on this essay: How do you live happily among people at war with all joy? Cultivate indifference and press on regardless.

That led in its way to this, from Saturday: Yes, emotions are tools of cognition – and emotional repression is a time-tested tool of tyranny.

And thinking about all of that led me to church yesterday:

I’m talking about a specific praxis for making your recurring transactions – from everyday commerce to love, marriage and family – work better by means of the affectionate display – but the what is not nearly as important as the why: Your self-interested motivation for treating other people with affection wherever possible is not for their benefit but for yours.

And that is how you go about habituating egoism. Whatever other church you go to, you should be bringing your family and friends to mine.