Affectation

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 4, 1886

Affectation is the aping of another, the assuming to be what a person is not, and is always an evidence of weakness and vanity. It is a confession that one is not what he desires to be, and that he wishes to be esteemed above what he deserves. A person who is self-reliant, and willing to appear to be what he really is, is always natural, and appears in his own true character. Affectation cannot be concealed from persons of discernment, and always lowers an individual in their estimation. If one by real worth can lift himself to a higher intellectual and social level, then it becomes natural to him, and to act in harmony with his true position is entirely proper. Every man should be true to himself, and should develop and maintain his own individuality. God made men different; and he intends them to be different. Instead, then, of aping others, every man should endeavor to develop his own talent and bring it to the highest possible degree of perfection.—Sel.