Sacrifice:In absolutely no way whatsoever has my mother learned to love herself.

A hen will eat less, sit more, and brace herself against weather in order to keep her eggs warm. Eventually, she teaches her chicks to scratch the soil and peck for bugs; to roost at night in high branches, away from foxes; to screech when they spot trouble; to huddle when it's cold. She teaches them to survive and then lets them go so she can tend a new brood.

If human mothers spent their lives raising new babies, would their children have better survival skills? Any Mormons care to comment?

If one has a chance to study the effect of a mother with genuine self-love, one can see that there is nothing more conducive to giving a child the experience of what love, joy, and happiness are than being loved by a mother who loves herself.

--Erich Fromm, "Selfishness, Self-love, and Self-interest," 1958

Self sacrifice is not the foundation for happiness. Altruism is. Altruism begins with the self. Easily confused with selfishness, true altruism embraces all living creatures and their homes. The true altruist is unattached to results and therefore cannot be selfish.