No Enemies

YOU have no enemies, you say?   
  Alas! my friend, the boast is poor;   
He who has mingled in the fray   
  Of duty, that the brave endure,   
Must have made foes! If you have none,            5
Small is the work that you have done.   
You’ve hit no traitor on the hip,   
You’ve dashed no cup from perjured lip,   
You’ve never turned the wrong to right,   
You’ve been a coward in the fight.

OBSERVATION: The poem is by Charles Mackay (1814–1889). It's a popular poem -- but notice in the fourth line, that having enemies has to do with duty, not self-interest. One of the publications I work for asks the question this week: Altruism, is it real?