One gains a profoundly personal, selfish joy from the mere existence of the
person one loves. It is one’s own personal, selfish happiness that one seeks,
earns and derives from love.
A “selfless,” “disinterested” love is a contradiction in terms: it means that
one is indifferent to that which one values.
Concern for the welfare of those one loves is a rational part of one’s selfish
interests. If a man who is passionately in love with his wife spends a fortune
to cure her of a dangerous illness, it would be absurd to claim that he does it
as a “sacrifice” for her sake, not his own, and that it makes no difference
to him, personally and selfishly, whether she lives or dies.