Self-Satisfied | AdventAI

S. D. A. Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 10, 1884

FromThe Signs of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 2

Self-Satisfied.

Of all unpleasant visitors, the most annoying is the man who is so thoroughly satisfied with himself and all his belongings that he cannot bestow a thought upon you or yours. Whatever may be shown him he at once institutes a comparison with his own possessions, and begins to tell that “mine are much better than that,” “I can beat you on so-and-so,” and ignoring the thing before him, tells us, “Ah! you should see my strawberries,” “my roses,” “my tomatoes,” and so on all through—in short, the man who does not “shut his own gate behind him.” Those who are so thoroughly satisfied with their own that they cannot forget it for a few hours should not visit, but remain upon the scene of their remarkable achievements—at home. We would not imply that one in visiting the grounds of another may not on occasion drop a useful hint drawn from his own experience, or that he may not give his host any information that he may ask for; but we have been so annoyed by receiving visitors, and, worse still, in visiting strange grounds in company with those whose only object in visiting appears to be to boast of their own affairs, that we feel called upon to protest against it. Those who thoughtlessly fall into this unpleasant error need only to be reminded of it, and they will sensibly avoid it. From the chronic boaster of his own achievements we hope to be delivered, whatever phase his vanity may assume.—Sel.