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deeply 
enough into the qualities of people 
— if we judge 
them only on superficial 
appearances, we might 
overlook their deeper worth. By 
overlooking their 
qualities, we tend to assume they 
have less than us 
— and when we assume ourselves 
to be superior, 
arrogance becomes our normal 
state of mind. 
A.2 Things which people tend to 
measure their 
worth in terms of 
Arrogant people tend to measure 
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their worth in 
terms of superficial things (a 
completer list of twelve 
items is available at Nd1.80]) such 
as: 
I. Their family: Some are born 
with a silver spoon 
in their mouths and thus tend to 
think, "I come 
from a large and influential family. 
I am descended 
from celebrities. I can get away 
with 
anything I want. No-one else can 
even compare 
with me." Thinking such, a person 
tends to look 
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down on everyone else. However, 
in reality coming 
from an influential family does 
nothing to 
guarantee a bright future for 
oneself It is often 
even harder than for an `unknown 
person' for 
someone from a famous family to 
learn to stand 
on their own two feet or establish 
an independent 
reputation. It has been said that the 
children 
who are constantly namedropping 
or using their 
parent's importance as an excuse 
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to do devious 
things will eventually come to 
grief. Eventually 
when they listen to no-one's 
advice, they will be 
beyond help; 
2. Their wealth: Some tend to 
think, "I am exceedingly 
wealthy. There is nothing I can't 
afford to 
buy or do. There is no reason why 
I should show 
any deference to anyone else — or 
show anyone 
any consideration." Thinking such, 
a person 
tends to look down on everyone 
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else. In reality 
wealth does nothing to guarantee a 
bright future 
for oneself. Just by making a few 
slip-ups in 
their accounts today's rich can 
become tomorrow's 
paupers and debtors. Even if you 
manage 
to keep your riches until the end of 
your life, you 
cannot take them with you when 
you go. If you 
don't appreciate applying your 
wealth for the 
cultivation of good deeds, even 
though you may 
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be wealthy, it will not help you to 
escape from 
suffering in life. The richer you 
are, the more 
worries you will have — out of 
fear your riches 
will disappear or be stolen. 
3. The beauty of their 
appearance: Some people 
tend to think, "I am more attractive 
than anyone 
else. No-one comes close to me in 
beauty — my 
skin is so fine, my nose shows 
breeding, my eyes 
are rounded — even Miss 
Universe would be 
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jealous." Thinking such, a person 
tends to look 
down on everyone else. However, 
in reality an 
Blessing 
Twenty-Three: 
Humility 
262 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
attractive appearance does nothing 
to guarantee 
a bright future for oneself. People 
may be 
attracted to one for the wrong 
reasons and even 
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if you live to seventy you can be 
sure your beauty 
won't! 
4. Their knowledge and 
experience: Some people 
think, "I am so smart I have a 
Masters' Degree. I 
have obtained even the degrees 
that everyone 
says are so tough to obtain. I am 
cleverer than 
anyone else." Thinking such, a 
person tends to 
look down on everyone else. In 
reality academic 
knowledge does nothing to 
guarantee a bright 
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future for oneself — because 
knowledge in the 
hands of a fool can lead to disaster. 
5. Their rank or position: Some 
tend to think, I hold 
such a high rank in the armed 
forces or have a 
managerial position in the civil 
service therefore 
everyone else should listen to me! 
Thinking such, 
a person tends to look down on 
everyone else. 
However, in reality rank does 
nothing to guarantee 
a bright future for oneself. 
Positions come 
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with responsibilities and if we 
don't have the 
virtues requisite for fulfilling those 
duties, those 
ranks or titles can be our downfall 
— ruining 
our reputation. Moreover, there is 
nothing to 
guarantee security of our position 
forever. 
6. The number of followers: Some 
tend to think, "I 
have so many friends and 
followers that no-one 
would dare to mess with me!" 
Thinking such, a 
person tends to look down on 
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everyone else. 
However, in reality the number of 
our friends 
and followers does nothing to 
ensure a bright 
future for oneself. If we don't 
know how to 
choose wise friends and are 
interested in nothing 
more that popularity — those 
friends can 
become our downfall. 
Furthermore, even if we 
have many friends and followers in 
the present 
day, there is nothing to guarantee 
that we will 
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be able to keep them for ever. 
We tend to measure our worth in 
terms of these six 
factors while at the back of our 
mind, common sense 
tells us that none of these six 
things can stay with 
us permanently. All of these things 
are impermanent 
— and they don't really belong to 
us. Many 
are just conceptual phenomena 
which happen to 
have value in the eyes of society in 
this particular 
day and age. They are assets which 
can be of benefit 
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to us only as long as we practise a 
particular 
duty in the social structure. If you 
examine what 
we can actually call our own —
you will eventually 
find that all we can call our own 
are the good 
virtues we have cultivated in our 
hearts. 
You should ask yourself what you 
actually improve 
in yourself by looking down on the 
other people. 
Does it make others appreciate us 
more? — or 
does it irritate other people so that 
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they will never 
want to do anything to help us a 
second time? It is 
like a person who wants to wants 
to be praised for 
their wealth and who behaves like 
a `big-spender' 
in spite of the fact they cannot 
really afford to do so 
— because of their frivolous 
spending they go further 
and further into debt day-by-day as 
the price 
of their pretenciousness. 
Those who are really endowed 
with virtues will 
maintain their humility even when 
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praised by others. 
Thus they will not allow self-pride 
to cause 
them to look down on others - 
for 
fear that they 
will lose the opportunity further to 
improve themselves. 
A.3 Isn't humility just the same as 
respect? 
Respect and humility sometimes 
look as if they are 
the same virtue, but in fact there 
are many differences. 
Respect, as we have seen from the 
previous blessing, 
has already taught us to be active 
in our search 
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for the virtues contained in others 
Respect is a virtue 
basedon the way we see others —
a respectful person 
is someone who actively looks for 
the good 
things about other people instead 
of finding fault 
with them — and who expresses 
respect in their 
thoughts, words and deeds. They 
would be a person 
who is able to estimate peoples' 
worth according 
to reality rather than superficial 
appearances. 
Humility, by contrast, is a virtue 
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based on the way 
we see ourselves — to be a humble 
person is to reflect 
on one's own weaknesses, finding 
fault with 
oneself and to estimating one's 
own worth according 
to reality rather than superficial 
appearances. 
A humble person is not someone to 
boast, but one 
who is able to show deference to 
others in order to 
maximize the amount of goodness 
absorbed from 
Blessing Twenty-Three: Humility 
263 
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them. A humble person does not 
overestimate 
themselves in terms of their good 
qualities in relation 
to others — to give ourselves the 
chance to learn 
from them. 
A respectful person is not 
necessarily a humble 
one. A person may be observant 
enough to see the 
good qualities exemplified by 
others (i.e. they have 
the quality of respect) but they 
might not be able 
bring themselves to show any 
deference to such a 
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person in order to learn from them 
(i.e. they are not 
humble). Instead they always like 
to compare themselves 
to that person they respect in an 
unrealistically 
favourable light. They say to 
themselves, 
"even though you're the best at 
this, I'm the best at 
that — so I'm as good as you!" If 
they were a little 
less arrogant, even though they 
may already be 
good at one thing, they will always 
be looking to 
improve themselves at things they 
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have not yet 
mastered 
instead of 
complacently sitting on their 
laurels. 
Thus, not to overestimate 
ourselves together with 
avoiding the arrogance of looking 
down on others 
(for whatever reason) is the subject 
to be dealt with 
by this Blessing. 
A.4 Damage from arrogance 
When we lose our humility, 
judging our worth in 
superficial terms and arrogantly 
looking down on 
others, there are three sorts of 
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