“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci. Adopted by Steve Jobs.
________________________
A Sacred Image was being carried to the temple mounted on an Ass, followed by a great procession.
As the Ass walked along, he saw that people bowed their heads and fell on their knees. Seeing this, the Ass thought the honor was to him.
He became so vain and full of himself that he stopped to bray.
But, seeing this, the driver began to beat him unmercifully with a stick. “Go along with you!” he cried. “Silly Ass, the honor is not meant for you, but for the image!”
Moral of the Story: Undeserved honor or pride leads to embarrassment. Those who are validation-starved are tempted to invent flattery of self.
________________________
Introduction – The Essential Aesop – Epilogue
Related Article: Bearing Insults – No. 7. The Bear and the Bees – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series
________________________
Why We Loved It: This fable reminds us of the benefits of humility and the risks of vanity, particularly deluded vanity. Thus the adage, “Loqui est revelare.” (“To speak is to reveal.”)
We are also reminded of a similar statement by Jesus, when he said that, if you take the first seat, you are embarrassed when asked to move to the back, but, if you take the last seat, you are rewarded when asked to move to the front. [1] And, indeed, the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln; to wit: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
Dignity is self-fulfilled and self-validated. Therefore, it does not require external validation, and it does not gloat. Where there is a vacuum of confidence by insecurity, there is a need that draws in anything to fill that void, and much of what is drawn inside is not good. [2]
Therefore, we might find in this a general rule of speaking:
Purpose first, then words.
Accordingly, we might distinguish the “why?” of speech, which is grounding in rationale. For example, if the “why?” of the speech is to sell a product, then the self-laudation might very well be appropriate, because that is part of the structure. But the “why?” as the same self-laudation for vanity might very well not be appropriate, since it serves only the vice of vanity. This distinction is by corollary to “feign is game.” [3] Sometimes expressed as “Fake it ’til you make it.” Therefore, we should not be so quick to judge an expression, because, sometimes, the product being sold and the human being are entwined, if not the same thing. [5, 6] Only the person really knows “the why?” But it is this “why” that cushions the backlash ex post facto: for purpose gives the reason, and vanity serves no excuse.
Aesop often teaches of the comeuppance of vanity, [7] and, here, he expressly states that vanity was the cause or purpose of the Ass’s expressive gloating. Unlike the vanity of his little Fly with the Axle [8], here there is a social comeuppance. Here the Ass is double the fool: being vain is one time foolish, and expressing it is two times foolish.
And we should take critical notice Aesop’s tool of causation: a “sacred image,” which implies the worst of all vanities: the arrogance of self to presume sacred reverence by others, such as to think of self as a deity.
Nay, the Ass was not a god, but only an Ass.
[1] ONE®: The Unified Gospel of Jesus, Divine Version [Second Edition] Published [#GRZ_59] ONE: 1809 [T20:2] (“Relative Appreciation”); ONE: 2097 [L14:7] (“Exaltation“)
[2] On Empathy: To Give Empathy Is a Blessing; To Need Empathy Is a Curse [#GRZ_106]
[5] Donald Trump; Or, The Mean Insult v. The Tactical Insult [#GRZ_108]
[6] The Distinguished Napoleon – The Business of Aesop™ No. 2 – The Frog and the Ox [#GRZ_81]
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118971/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_7_nm_1_in_0_q_devil%27s%2520ad
“Loqui est revelare.” (“To speak is to reveal.”); “Nullius frugis primae substantiae substantia intentos facit vacuum.” (“Lack of substance creates a vacuum that draws first upon that which lacks substance.”); “Primum propositum, deinde loqui.” (“Purpose first, then words.”); “Dignitas per se impletur et se convalescit.” (“Dignity is self-fulfilled and self-validated.”); “Ludus est simulare.” (“Game is feign.”); “Propositum dat rationem, et vanitas non est excusatio.” (“Purpose gives reason, and vanity is no excuse.”) ~ grz
© 2013 Arnold Zegarelli and Gregg Zegarelli, Esq. Gregg can be contacted through LinkedIn. Arnold Zegarelli can be contacted through Facebook.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/vanity-self-delusion-25-lion-ass-essential-aesop-zegarelli-esq-
GRZ98_25 GRZUID98_25