Seeking for help in "Cicero On The Value And The Nature...."

[santisino]

Hi, friends!!
I come across some problems with a sentence in <Cicero on The Value And The Nature of Frendship>. I wish you can help me get through it. Thank you very much.

Quisque ipse se diligit non ut aliam mercedem a se ipse petat sed quod per se quisque sibi carus est.

[thesaurus]

Where did you come across problems? If it seems very difficult, how would you parse the different words?

It might help to break it up into chunks:
Quisque ipse se diligit
non ut aliam mercedem a se ipse petat [hint: purpose clause]
sed quod per se quisque sibi carus est. [hint: here "quod" = "because"]