The Daily Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Or.) 1876-1883, 1883-09-18
EgOtiSm

to see how interesting we are to {
We may be stupid to
all the world beside; but nature
has kindly arranged that every
man shall be secure Of a little ad-
miration; he thinks well of him
self. Expressed admiration is
necessary to many people. But
TO do it ourself is an awkward and
unblushing thing. Hence, the
value of a mutual admiration So
ciety. 1t secures hattery and OBJ
viates the necessity Of doing 1t
ourself. Sometimes the circle Of
this egotism insurance company is
very small. Sometimes it consists
of only one family; and that per-
haps a family where there are no
children, and the husband extols
the wife and the wife the husband.
There is an advantage in having
the circle small. They can work
more directly when two people
exhaust upon and for each other
the vocabulary Of complimentary
phrases. Sometimes the society is
reduced to one member; the man
who is always on dress-parade,
who postures and walks and talks
for the one sole purpose of max
ing his greatness known. That is
the egotist, the man who is always
taking his hat off TO his shadow.
DIR. Holmes tells of an old farmer
walking over his acres and saying
aloud, "Whose fine farm is this?"
With great compliance he ans
wers, esquire Doubleday's.'
L" Whose elegant mansion is
yonder?" Stroking his breast he
answers, Squire Doubleday's."
There is a Squire Doubleday in
every man.
There are egotists and egotists.
We may be in danger Of losing
sight of the really manly qualities
which an insistance on personal
qualities may imply. An egoist
is a man whose philosophy starts
out from his personality. Ego
tism does not consist in laying
stress on personal qualities. Every
man OF force has done that. 1t
consists in stopping there. The
personal pronoun at the head of a
great and true sentence is not an
Objectionable thing.
There are three kinds of egotists.
First, there is the frank and 10.
quacious egotist. He hides under
no indirection. With open coun-
tenance and charming naiyete he
dilates on his fine points. He
talks about himself with the same
freedom with which some folks
talk about other people. He is a
subjective gossip. He takes US al
once into his confidence. He is
restless till he has admitted hi:
high opinion Of himself. Sucf
people are frequently interesting
Society calls them ''good fellows.
There is nothing mean about al
egotist who begins our acquaint
ance by telling us how great he is
There is even a touch of modest-
in it, for it seems to imply that /
it were not for his own franknesi
others would never discover hi
greatness. And, indeed, persol
who, at the outset of an acquaint
ance, is ready to take us into hi
secret thought about himself
usually an open-hearted and gen
erous person.
Another kind is the subtle an
hypocritical egotist. He neve
talks about bimself. He has n
condolences. He is too shrew
and circumspect for that; but /
is always under ground, sappin
and mining for number one. 81
per6cially, he does not seem to
egotistical. The personal pronou
is not thrust into the foregroun
1t may even be calculating
avoided. He is so egotistical tn
he can hide the manifestation
it, while all his life is bent on ha
ing others recognize it. Instei
of taking generously upon himse
the awkward business of soundiI
his praises, he imposes it on Other
With him egotism is not a pardo
able gush of boyish feeling. 1t
the mean and obstinate princip
of all his living. Therefore,
always masquerades. He is new
quite his honest self. Artful al
hypocritical, he claims at once t
praise of modesty and the rewa
of merit. He is as humble
Uriah Heep. and, therefore,
-o.,l - ,o.ro. n - -