final impoverishment. Accordingly I was obliged to say in my
definition that the self-sacrificer seeks to heighten another's
possessions, pleasures, or powers at the cost of his own. Undoubtedly
at the end of the process he often finds himself richer than at the
beginning. Perhaps this is the normal result; but it is not
contemplated. Psychologically the sacrificer is facing in a different
direction.



X

Yet, though the motive agencies of the two are thus contrasted, I
think we must acknowledge that sacrifice no less than culture is a
powerful form of self-assertion. To miss this is to miss its essential
character, and at the same time to miss the safeguards which should
protect it against waste. For to say, "I will sacrifice myself" is to
leave the important part of the business unexpressed. The weighty
matter is in the covert preposition _for_.--"I will sacrifice myself
_for_," An approved object is aimed at. We are not primarily
interested in negating ourselves. Only our estimate of the importance
of the object justifies our intended loss. This object should
accordingly be scrutinized. Self-sacrifice is noble if its end is
noble, but become reprehensible when its object is petty or
undeserving. Omit or overlook that word _for_, and self-sacrifice
loses its exalted character. It sinks into asceticism, one often most
degrading of moral aberrations. In asceticism we prize self-sacrifice
for its own sake. We hunt out what we value most; we judge what would
most completely fulfill our needs; and then we abolish it. Abolish it
for what? For nothing but the mere sake of abolishing. This is to turn