The moral purpose of a man’s life is the achievement of his own happiness. This
does not mean that he is indifferent to all men, that human life is of no value
to him and that he has no reason to help others in an emergency. But it does
mean that he does not subordinate his life to the welfare of others, that he
does not sacrifice himself to their needs, that the relief of their suffering
is not his primary concern, that any help he gives is an exception, not a
rule, an act of generosity, not of moral duty, that it is marginal and
incidental—as disasters are marginal and incidental in the course of human
existence—and that values, not disasters, are the goal, the first concern
and the motive power of his life.