Love and Selfishness

For so the goblin Selfishness would reward the angel Love.
George MacDonald, Phantastes, p. 124, 1981 edition, 1851 original.

George MacDonald, a contemporary of Lewis Carroll, was a masterful writer who poetically described human nature. His books have not been widely read in the last few years but are certainly worthy of consideration. In Phantastes, he wrestles with the concepts of love, lust, pride, and disobedience in ways which challenge every reader to consider their own motives. In this quote, he is asking us to consider what it is that constitutes love and what constitutes self-interest.