That anonymous proverb, “Charity begins at home,” if not invented by the devil, is appropriated by him to serve his ends. Love counts every needy soul a neighbor, and counts no cost in relieving with heart and hand every want or woe. If Love begins at home, it is only a beginning, a starting-point for the farthest goal of service. But selfishness begins at home, and stays there. To her a neighbor is one who will return favors by favors, and who pays in some form for every gift bestowed.



 Arthur T. Pierson, The Divine Enterprise of Missions (New York: Baker & Taylor Co., 1891), 165.