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But now the old squatter has gone to the mansions above; the immigrant and old hand to the kitchen below; and between the self-valuation of the latter-day squatter and that of his contemporary wage-slave, there is very little to choose. Hence the toe of the blucher treads on the heel of the tan boot, and galls its stitches.
Modesty of other kind rests either on a moderate self-valuation or a desire to avoid offense by not emphasizing one's own value, or it is both.
A man is a kind of inverted thermometer, the bulb uppermost, and the column of self-valuation is all the time going up and down. Number Seven is very much like other people in this respect, very much like you and me. This train of reflections must not carry me away from Number Seven.
In reality there is no democracy anywhere, and so we address differently the woman of the mansion and the woman of the hovel, The mistress of the house calls her maid by her first name but would wonder what the world is coming to if the maid became as familiar. In a more noble sense, manners and courtesy prescribe conduct in order to proscribe offense to the self-valuation of others.
One type of man may be as admirable as another in his gifts, but the types need different treatment. Self-valuation is to a large extent our opinion of the valuation of others of ourselves. We believe people like us, think we are fine and able, or beautiful, and we react with energy to difficulties.
Often he has made up his mind to "control" himself, to keep down his scorn and rage, but rarely has he been able to maintain a proper attitude for any length of time. In the last analysis a high self-valuation is part of the chronic choleric make-up, a conceit of overweening proportions.
The difficulty in reaching a true estimate of the world, ourselves and our neighbors lies in the egoism which permeates our beliefs and opinions. A second direction of the impulse to superiority is personal beauty. Her own self-valuation increases with the admiration of some and the discomfiture of others.
We cannot hope to increase happiness through the material improvements of civilization. Self-disgust and shame are not identical but are so kindred that shame may well be studied here. Shame is lowered self-valuation, brought on by social or self-disapproval. Usually it is acute and, like fear, it tends to make the individual hide or fly.
Early success, unless it brings too high a self-valuation, which is its great danger, is remarkably valuable in releasing energy, and failure establishes a precedent that may bring doubt, fear and the attendant inhibition of energy. Of course, failure may bring with it caution and a recasting of plans and thus constitute the most valuable of experiences.
There has been something even unearthly about his extreme unselfishness, his utter want of personal ambition, personal self-valuation, personal feeling. The most unsparing criticism, denunciation, and ridicule never moved him to a single bitter expression, never seemed to awaken in him a single bitter thought.
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