Pride can become vainglory very easily, and self-reliance degenerate to mere selfishness.

He had thought then that he wanted to redeem his brother's death, but he understood now that his prayers had been prompted by mere selfishness.

Still, as Mr. Bloom points out, self-reliance has a way of devolving into mere selfishness or self-absorption.

Remember, excessive grief is mere selfishness; resignation is heroism.

It was mere selfishness to let his own thought, his own problem, stand first; the very thing he had wished to bring her to see.

This might seem like mere selfishness, but the specific examples tell a different story.

They sought alternative explanations of how the process might work, which allowed them to believe that Nature was driven by something higher than mere selfishness.

When does the assertion of one's personal needs become mere selfishness?

They let personal ambition, mere selfishness and silly pride, get in the way . . . They were sabotaging his effort to save the Familias Regnant.

Till now, I told him, my course had been mere selfishness.