Full Idea
One cannot reasonably be called upon to love even one's neighbour quite as oneself. Is love to diminish inversely as the square of the distance? Is it to extend to other species than one's own?
Gist of Idea
Love seems to diminish with distance from oneself
Source
Willard Quine (On the Nature of Moral Values [1978], p.65)
Book Reference
Quine,Willard: 'Theories and Things' [Harvard 1981], p.65
A Reaction
Quine isn't actually saying that love is inherently egoistic, but that is the implication. The power of my love is at its most powerful when it is closest to home.