I am always fascinated about the idea of altruism, and whether in essence there is any pure attainment of the idea of being selfless in the service of others. In reality it is difficult to expect nothing in return when you do good.
I guess the nobler position we should strive for is to perform acts of service, and be content by the fuzzy feeling we get when we observe positive change in the people we help. This is where the experience of personal gain is subjective to the beholder, and hence we do not set ourselves for disappointment when we expect reciprocal actions from those we help. Even the expectation of gratitude would set ourselves at a higher possibility for interpersonal dissonance.
I am not saying that basing this reciprocity on subjective experiences would not lead us into this experience of distress and disappointment, but instead this position gives us some measure of control over how we gain happiness from performing acts of service.
Surely this would be a position to strive for.
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