120 philosophical essays you must read in your life

Chapter 78

Chapter 4, Section 18, On Pretentiousness

[French] Montaigne
Another pursuit of honor is our overestimation of our own merits.

In fact, it is an instinctive love we have for ourselves, a love that makes us see ourselves as different from who we really are, that bestows beauty and grace on the one we love, and makes those who love Losing clear and normal judgment, they see their loved ones as different and more perfect than they actually are.

I do not want a man to think less of himself, nor worse than he is, for fear of making such a mistake.

In any case, the evaluation should be equally fair, and everyone's evaluation of himself should be in line with the actual situation.If it is Caesar, let him audaciously think himself the greatest general in the world.We are concerned only with decency, which confuses us and blinds us to see things as they really are; too often we cling to the branches and abandon the trunk.

Ladies blush when they mention things, but they do them with no shame; we dare not name certain organs of ours, but we use them without shame to do all kinds of things. Obscenity.

Respect forbids us to do illegal and bad things, and we submit to them; reason forbids us to do illegal and bad things, and no one cares about them.I feel that in this case the laws of decency bind my hands, for decency forbids us to speak neither good nor bad of ourselves.

There are people who are lucky enough to live an above-average life, and they can show who they are and how special they are by actions that are visible to all.But there are some people who are destined to be unknown, and no one will talk about them if they don't talk about them themselves.

Because of this, we can no more stop others from thinking better of us than we can make people arrogant—thinking ourselves too high and others too low.

【Together with you】

Abandoning pretentiousness is not about looking down on yourself, nor is it letting others look down on yourself.At any time, you must give yourself a fair evaluation.Half a catty is half a catty, eight taels is eight taels.

Pretentiousness is an unfair attitude and human nature.Evaluating yourself too high can easily fall into the misunderstanding of pride and self-admiration. Although it has a benign side, in general, it will lead to autism and loss.The real self, and the self-constructed self, once there is a crack, it will make us feel torn.The consequences of this imbalance will only harm yourself.Suspicion is not only driven by curiosity, but also inner mistrust of one's own safety.Suspicion is a thorn that not only pierces another's heart, but also makes one's own heart bleed.Suspicion is not only distrust of others, but also distrust of oneself.

(End of this chapter)