Star Trek Fic: Decision
Decision
“Join me for a game of chess, Mr. Spock?”
Spock thinks of the unread scientific journals and the half-composed paper waiting in his cabin.
Selfishness with one’s time is still selfishness, Spock. You must control it. A Vulcan woman would not say this to her child, but selfishness nearly always entails promoting the good of one at the expense of the good of many. His human mother, therefore, believed it was a principle appropriate for her Vulcan son.
Spock considers his mother’s teaching, and his captain’s hopeful face.
“No, Captain.” He retreats to his cabin.
Selfishness is not an emotion.