Charité bien ordonnée commence par soi-même : Notes sur la genèse d’un adage

The saying « Charity begins at home » seems to belong to the Christian sphere at first sight. In particular it might be conceived as tracing back to the Augustinian tradition of the ordo caritatis. How can we, though, recon‐ cile this precept, that invites us to selfishness, with the words of Saint Paul « charity does not seek things for itself »? Its legal origin as compared to a theological one seems to justify its ambiguous and paradoxal status.