120 philosophical essays you must read in your life

Chapter 75

Chapter 4, Section 15

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Aesop said it very well in one of his fables: "The fly sat on the axle of the chariot and said, how much dust I raised!" There are indeed many conceited people in the world. Whether it is automatic or driven by other factors, as long as they can have even the slightest relationship in it, they think that these things are completely dependent on their strength.

People who show off must be aggressive, because all boasting depends on comparison.This kind of person must also be very extreme, because in this way he can support his various boasting.They can't keep secrets, so they are of no practical use.They are, as the French idiom says: "Big voice, small result."

In politics, however, this quality does have its uses.These people are good drummers whenever people need to build up a reputation of great talent and virtue.Also, lying about the dealings between the parties involved can have very good results.For example, if a man negotiates between two kings and wants them to unite to fight a third party, he exaggerates the strength of the other party to both parties; Both exaggerate their status in the other party's mind, and the result will increase their prestige in the minds of both parties.In matters such as this one tends to get results out of thin air, and opinions can lead to substantial change.

Among generals and soldiers, vanity is an indispensable thing.For as iron irons iron, men's courage sharpens one another by glory.In great undertakings that depend on definite orders and adventures, the addition of some honorable natures can invigorate the cause, while those whose natures are thick and calm are more like ballast than sail.

In the field of academic fame, the flight of this reputation is very slow without some flaunting feathers. "He who writes that glory should not be valued has his name on the title page." Socrates, Aristotle, and Galen were all boasters.Vanity does help a person's name go down in history, and the reason why virtue has been indirectly rewarded cannot but be attributed to human nature.

This vanity is like the paint on the ceiling, it makes the ceiling not only shiny but also durable.But having said so long, when I use the word "vanity," I do not mean Musianus "who skillfully embellished his every move, every word he did."For this quality does not spring from vanity, but from natural generosity and prudence, and these qualities are not only beautiful but graceful in some people, and apology, concession, and modesty, when well controlled, are but ostentatious arts.Of these arts of boasting there is none better than that of Pliny the Younger.That is, in a certain aspect of your own strengths, if another person also has a little strength, you should praise that person a lot without hesitation.He put it wisely: "When you praise someone, you are actually doing yourself a favor. Because the person you praise is either better than you or worse than you in that respect. If he is not as good as you, then since he is worthy of praise, You are more worthy of praise; if he is worse than you, if he is not worthy of praise, you are less worthy of praise."

The ostentatious are despised by the wise, envied by the foolish, flattered by the sycophants, and at the same time are the slaves of their own boastful words.

【Together with you】

The wise man said: "A man of vanity desires nothing so much as honor and fears nothing so much as shame."

In the final analysis, vanity is a face, it is best to make yourself look good and make others look bad.

How many people have lived without themselves under this face.It suffocates freedom, suppresses natural humanity, and often loses the state that a human being should present.

A jealous person can allow a stranger to rise, but he can never forgive a person close to him to rise.

Envy is only a hatred which makes a man miserable at another's happiness and happy at his misfortune.

Anyone with a noble heart can feel ashamed.

(End of this chapter)