Humility

Arrogance and Wisdom

“Arrogance diminishes wisdom.”            Arabian Proverb

“When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities.”

                                  David Hume

         It was interesting this week to watch Rupert Murdoch, media mogul and CEO of News Corp, being grilled by Parliament about his role in the phone and email hacking scandal engulfing the UK.  He has gone from arrogantly defiant to groveling in one short week.  Murdoch heads an international company that employs fifty-three thousand people around the world.  Why should he be humble?  Well, because arrogance will make matters worse for him; arrogance makes the authorities want to bring him down to earth and feel righteous doing it.  Not only does he not serve his stockholders, but he doesn’t serve himself or his family, not to mention the people who were hurt by the tabloid’s intrusion.

         Arrogance is not reserved for the Rupert Murdochs of the world.  We are all quite capable of hoisting our flag and parading around while tooting our horn.  I am aware, for instance, that several of my blogs in the past week have had a knife’s edge of arrogance to them.  That fact was pointed out to me by a dream.  I dreamed of a certain headmaster of the prep school where my sons graduated.  In life, he was an exceptionally inflated elitist, who took great pride in his ability to get his students into any college in the nation.  I am grateful to him because my sons received a first-rate education in his school, but quite honestly, I was afraid of him.  In my dream, he was upset, crying and I was holding him and rocking him like a baby.  Humbled, to say the least.  And since he’s in my dream, he’s part of me.  If I have offended anyone with my arrogance, I ask your forgiveness.  I will endeavor to use ‘proper deliberation’ in the future.

         My mother used to tell me, “Jane, humility is a virtue.”  I never liked it when she said that but in retrospect, I realize it was good advice.  Arrogance is almost always a sign of a weak ego, no matter where you find it.  For people who are truly accomplished, it is simply unnecessary. 

                                  Keeping the faith,

                                  Jane