We don’t know what’s going to be of benefit to somebody else. We can’t see the future. What is specified in the Buddhist teachings is that if we act destructively, on the basis of disturbing emotions – anger, greed, lust, jealousy, naivety, and so on– it is self-destructive. It builds up a negative habit to repeat that behavior and is going to cause us to experience suffering ourselves. This is the basis of Buddhist ethics. --Dr. Alexander Berzin