The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1898-04-27
VANITY AND coNcEIr.
Points Of Resemblance aud Difference

Points Of Resemblance and Difference
between Them.
THE vain man Is DESTROYS that peo-
pie shall think well OF him; the con-
ceited man Is convinced that they do.
The definition. or words 10 the same
effect. Is from a contemporary. says
a writer In the Pail Mall Gazette. II
struck me as apt and set me ponder
ing. passing ms friends and acquaint-
ances In review. and sorting them into
the vain and the conceited II agrees
too. with another remark on the sub
Jet that ! have always held TO be true
that conceit Is the vice OF the thick
skinned. while vanity is the weakness
OF the thln-skinned Most estimable
people are either conceited or vain.
Many praiseworihy individuals are
both. Vanity Is more easily detected
than concet Il lies In the skin. and
Is as plain TO be seen as the measles.
You cannot be Ave minutes In the room
with a vain man and not know him "a
be vain. In his gestures, In his most
trivial remarks. in the expression Of his
face, he betrays himself at every mo-
ment a. a vain man. Conceit lying
beneath the skin-and a thick skin az
that frequently escapes detection. You
may be days. nay weeks. In the COM
pany OF one whose interior economy Is
one solid mass OF conceit. and not dis
cover Il. II may be your LOT to be
staggered by sudden revelation OF un-
fathomable conceit In one whom you
have hitherto regarded as the most
Undetermined Of your acquaintance.
The vain man Is pleasant companion
In many ways. He Is eager for your
good opinion and shows you that he
thinks Il worth having lie goes TO
meet you half way with his intellect.
and. being always mentally on the
alert, Is quick TO apprehend your mean
ing. You have not to prod him with
your w..SS or rub your subleties In. lie
goes forward and catches them In the
air before they have well left your own
brain. But he Is so sensitive. so
"touchy," that you must be on your
guard. or you will be perpetually hurt
ing his feelings or wounding his van
ity. Long companionshlp with the
vain tends to make one nervous and
irritable One cannot always be mind
ing ones p's and as There are times
when one must let oneself 30. When
this state OF mind comes upon one.
there Is no greater relief than to find
oneself In the company Of the oonoeit-
ed You may say anything you please
and rest assured that though they may
not understand Il. az least they will
not take oiense. Even II you wish to
offend them you cannot do so with your
ordinary weapons Of sarcasm and
irony In spite OF an you can DO or
say to the contrary, they will believe
that YOU think we'll OF them. How can
you do otherwise. they would say to
themselves II the question arose, when
they are so deserving OF your good
oplnionl When their complacent sclf-
satisfaction becomes a source Of irrlta-
ton, 20 that one longs to send har-
poon through their hippopo,amus hide.
to wound their self-esteem, then how
delightful Il Is to find oneself back
again and converslng with the vain.
One thing has sometimes surprised me
In the conceited. II. carried away by
the desire to pierce their impenetrable
self-esteem. one hurls unmeasured
abuse at their heads. or thrusts deer
with a vicious h0me-truth. they will
receive Il with amlable humility that
Is almost touching Indeed these thick
skinned. concelted folk seem capable
ut times land under proyocationl Of q
humility as deep as their concelt Il
sublime.