recc^itton by a man of the spiritual principle within him, evoking the renunciation of his personality, moves man much more potently than any rewards to the fulfiUmeot of (be law of good Kant.
HUMILITY
I
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HUMILITY
The paramount blessing of man in this world is association with his kind. Proud people, setting themselves apart from others, deprive themselves of this blessing. But the humble man eliminates all inner obstacles to the attainment of this blessing. And therefore humility is a necessary prerequisite of true happiness.
I.
A Man Can Not Be Proud of His Deeds Because All the
Good that He Does is Not Done by Himself But by
the Divine Principle Which Dwells in Him
1. Only he can be humble who knows that God dwell-eth in his soul. It is all the same to such a man how other people judge him.
2. He who considers himself master of his own life can not be humble because he thinks he is under no obligation to any one for anything. But the man who sees his calling in the service of God can not be otherwise than humble because he always feels that he has fallen far short of fulfilling all his obligations.
3. We frequently feel proud because we have done well, forgetting that God dwelleth in each of us, and that in doing well we are mere instruments by means of which He performs His works.
God does through me what He wills, and I dare to feel proud! It is as though a rock impeding the course of a freshet boasted that it brings forth water and that men and beasts drink thereof. But it may be said that the rock may feel proud because it is pure and does not spoil the water. This also is an error. If it is putt, \1 \^ Ы^^лмйл ^^ ^-^^^
П6 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE
has cleansed it and still cleanseth it. We have nothing of our own, all is of God.
4. We are the instruments of God. We know what we ought to do, but why it is not given to us to know. He who understands this can not be otherwise than humble.
5. The principal concern in the life of every man is to become ever better. But how can we become better if we account ourselves good?
6. Only then will the laborer perform his task well when he realizes his condition. Only when a man understands the teaching of Qirist will he clearly understand that his life is not his own, but God's, who gave it to him—and that the purpose of life is not in man but in the will of Him who gave him life, and therefore man can only hinder the manifestation of God within himself, but can not do any good of himself.
7. You need only recognize yourself as servant instead of master, and immediately doubt, worry and discontent give way to certainty, peace and joy.
II.
All EiTOTB Come From Pride
1. If a man strives after God he can never be satisfied with himself. No matter how far he may advance, he will still feel his remoteness from perfection, because perfection is infinite. '
2. Self-assurance is a characteristic of the animal, humility is a characteristic of man.
3. He who knows himself best esteems himself least.
4. He who is satisfied with himself is dissatisfied with others.
He who is always dissatisfied with himself, is always satisfied with others.
5. A wise man was told that some men condemned him as being wicked. He replied; "It is well that they do not know all about me, or they would consider me still worse."
6. There is nothing more useful to the soul than to be mindful that you are an insignificant gnat both in time and in space, and that your strength lies in your ability to realize your insignificance and therefore to be humble.
7. In spite of lack of attention to his defects, which is common to all men, there is not a man living who does not know more evil things of himself than he does of his nei^-bors.
Therefore it should be easy for any man to be humble. Wolseley.
8. We need only give it з little thought and we shall always find ourselves guilty of something before humanity (let it be even the guilt arising from the existing inequality of people, whereby some enjoy certain advantages for the sake of which others must experience still greater privations) , and this will keep us from accounting ourselves above other people on the strength of selfish delusions as to our merits. Kant.
9. Our defects may be seen only throi^h the eyes of others. Chinese proverb.
10. Every man may be to us a mirror in which we can see our vices and defects, and all that is evil within us. But we most frequently act like the dog barking at its own reflection in the mirror in the belief that it sees another dog instead of itself. Schopenhauer.
11. Self-reliant, stupid and immoral people frequently inspire respect in humble, clever and татЛ ^ea^t.4i«a.\is*.
a. humble man, judging by his own inner worth, cannot imagine that an evil person could so esteem himself.
12. A man who is in love with himself has few rivals.
Lichtenberg.
13. Frequently people without learning and education very clearly, consciously and easily receive the true teachings of Christianity, while the most learned people continue steeped in the mire of crassest paganism. It is because plain people are frequently humble, whereas learned people are mostly self-confident.
14. For a rational understanding of life and death, and in order to await the latter calmly, it is needful to realize one's insignificance.
You are an infinitely small particle of something, and you would be nothing if you did not have a definite calling or task. Only this gives a meaning and a significance to your life. And your calling is to make use of the instruments given to you and to all that is living; to spend your body in the fulfillment of the task prescribed to you. Therefore all tasks are equal and you can do nothing more than what is prescribed to you. You can be only a hinderer of God or a doer of His will. Therefore man cannot ascribe to himself anything important or great. It suffices for you to attribute to yourself some great or exceptional task, and there is no end to disappointments, contentions, envy and all sorts of suffering. It suffices that you attribute to yourself the importance of some great plant that bears fruit and you are lost.
Peace, liberty, joy of life and freedom from fear of death are granted to him only who knows that in this life he /5 only a servant of his Master,
III.
Humility Unites Men in Love
1. To be unknown to men, or to be misunderstood by them, and not to grieve because of it—herein is the characteristic of a truly virtuous man who loves his fellow-men.
Chinese wisdom,
2. Just as water can not remain on a height, even so goodness and wisdom are strangers to the proud. The one and the other seek lowly places. Persian wisdom.
3. He is a good man who remembers his sins and forgets his goodness, and he is an evil man who remembers his goodness and forgets his sins.
Do not forgive yourself, and you will easily forgive others.
4. You can recognize a good and a wise man in that he regards other people as better and wiser than himself.
The most agreeable people are the saints who consider themselves sinners; the most disagreeable people are the sinners who consider themselves saints. Pascal.
6. How hard it is to love or to pity self-confident, proud and boastful people. This alone shows not only how good, but how valuable is humility. More than an3rthing else on earth it arouses the most precious sentiment in life— love.
7. Everybody loves a humble man. We all strive so much to be loved, why should we not try to be humble?
8. So that people may live well, peace must reign among them. But where each man strives to be higher than the next, there can be no peace. The humbler men are, the more readily will they live a life oi v^^t^*
IV. Humility Unites Man With God
1. There is nothing stronger than an humble man, because an humble man, renouncing self, yields to God.