Humans are social animals and intrinsically we believe in the existence of empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of  others.

This often misunderstood as caring for others.  In reality, nobody cares about you, except you.  Perhaps this a harsh reality most of us will deny but at heart ours is a society of of self serving misanthropes.

Respecting Others

Polite behaviour and giving the appearance of caring for others are simply the actions of a self seeker.  To get what we want and need requires the cooperation of others and appearing to care is a pre-requisite for this to happen.

Whether you consciously acknowledge that life (it) is all about you, or even consciously try to deny this fact, for everything that affects you, at least unconsciously you will seek personal satisfaction and pleasure in some form.

Motivation

While external factors can influence our behaviours and motivate us to act in certain ways, all motivation is filtered through our own consciousness, that is, we decide how to react, other people or things cannot make this decision  for us.

The outcomes of our decisions might not always meet our expectations and we may reconsider and change approaches as a result of external events, however, ultimately the things impacting our lives are always about us and no one else cares, except as it impacts them and their desires.

Cynical

In a word, everyone is cynical, believing that other people are motivated by self-interest.  We might not a knowledge this openly but being distrustful of others sincerity or integrity should be part of your reality.