One man had one horse and one donkey.
One day they were both on their way to the city, the donkey, feeling tired, told the horse:
"Take a part of my burden if you are interested in my life."
The horse becoming deaf said nothing to the donkey.
Hours later, the donkey fell victim to fatigue, and died there.
Then the owner threw the entire load on the horse, including the donkey's skin. And the horse, sighing said:
"What bad luck I have! For not having wanted to carry a light bundle now I have to carry everything, and even with the donkey's skin on top!"
Source: Aesop's Works (600 BC - 564 BC)
Help, although it may not seem like it, is always bidirectional, so that by helping our neighbors we help ourselves, as the proverbial phrase “we are our environment” says, which is simply a way of making notice the impact that our surroundings have on us.
Whenever we help others we will be helping ourselves, because progress in a society is shared. That means precisely being part of a society, this being a group of people who are united by a shared goal, a common goal, and when one of us is closer to that goal, we are all closer too.
Jealousy, rivalry, and envy, as well as selfishness, are symptoms of a decadent society, as well as its counterpart, altruism, is an obvious sign of social progress. The social body can only have a sustained development when the individuals that compose it commit directly or indirectly to help each other personally or impersonally, so that the common goal of society is achieved by the greatest number of people, in turn achieving a generalized easiness in people's lives.
And remember, in the same way that the progress of one means in turn the progress of all, the setback or fall of some consequently generates the same effect in the opposite direction, lest you don't have to do twice the job for not helping the donkey.
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