A Self-Conceited Age by Sel.

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Dec 2, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 46.

A Self-Conceited Age.

By Sel.

THIS is said to be a very brainy age. Perhaps it is. One thing is certain, it is a very self-conceited age. Men do not hesitate to assert their superiority to those who have preceded them, and with great self-complacency to sound their own praise. This may be a sign of braininess, but certainly it is not a sign of modesty, and with sensible people it is a poor commendation. True greatness is unpretentious, and often seems unconscious of its power. We have doubtless great men—brainy men—in this age, but they occupy themselves in using their brains and not in talking about them.

Whenever a man is lifted up with a sense of his own greatness, he betrays his weakness, and at once loses his influence. A man may know a great deal, but there is so much he does not know that he has no cause to be exalted in his own estimation. The more a man really knows, the wider the range of his mental vision, and the less he seems to himself to know. If unfounded speculation could be regarded as knowledge, then the knowledge of this age would be wonderful.