| Share page |
|
266 |
FIRESIDE EDUCATION. |
||
|
benevolent actions to a polluted fountain. Such persons are self-deceivers, and, instead of being wiser than others, they are usually mistaken, and are very unsfe counsellors. Regulated by no sense of justice, and guided by no feeling of candor, they judge ill of others only from a consciousness of the evil springing up within themselves. Instead of throwing light upon the breasts of others, they only reflect what is passing in their own bosom. It may be laid down as an infallible rule, that a person is capable of any meanness or any wickedness of which he needlessly suspects another.
Let parents beware, then, of this noxious vice in children. Simplicity is better than suspicion. It is better to be sometimes duped than to carry about, in one's breast, a viper that is constantly suggesting evil opinions of brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors.
Pride is of two kinds: first, inordinate self-esteem ; an unreasonable conceit of one's own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, accomplishments, rank or elevation. Second, a noble self-esteem, springing from a consciousness of worth. The first of these is one of the greatest mischief-makers in society, and always bespeaks a want of good sense in those who are marked with it. It is, in fact, a species of |
|||