Among the Sufi stories collected by Idries Shah there is one that goes something like this:

The Mullah Nasrudin was having a discussion with a spiritual ascetic. The ascetic said, "I have become perfectly selfless and humble. Therefore I never think of myself, only of the other person."

Nasrudin said, "I am not only perfectly humble; I am perfectly objective as well. I can think of myself as if I WERE the other person. Therefore I think of myself all the time!"