Compassion for all beings

It's a simple little story found in Anthony de Mello's The Heart of the Enlightened but it aptly illustrates what happens when we are concerned only for ourselves:

There was once a man who was busy building a home for himself. He wanted it to be the nicest, cosiest home in the world.

Someone came to him to ask for help because the world was on fire. But it was his home he was interested in, not the world.

When he finally finished his home, he found he did not have a planet to put it on.

Care for yourself, care for other people, care for other animals, care for the planet. All are fitting and necessary for without such care we will not have a planet that will support our lives.