“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci (Adopted by Steve Jobs)
A Fly sat upon the wheel of a chariot for which the Horses were in a full gallop.
It was a dry day and the Fly observed a great dust spreading up into the air behind him. Thinking himself quite powerful and grand, he said to himself, “Look at that, what I dust I do raise!”
Moral of the Story: We are inclined to credit ourselves. We tend to overstate our importance.
Introduction – The Essential Aesop – Epilogue
Why We Loved It: Socrates said that those who knew that they did not know were superior to those who thought they knew. [1] Jesus said that those who knew they were sinners were superior to those who thought they were righteous. [2]
In both cases, the stated truth was in exposing delusion. [3, 4] Exposing delusion in others tends to be dangerous for the speaker, as history teaches. The reason is because—as Nietzsche (or Marx) might say—delusion is the strongest opioid to which any of us can be addicted, yielding great pleasure and satisfaction.
Delusion is heady stuff, and no less than an opiating drug for the mind.
In Aesop’s fable, the Fly deludes himself by thinking that he is the cause of all that dust, as if raising dust is important in the first place. In fact, the Fly is irrelevant as causation.
The Fly’s delusion is a “double-vice,” being firstly a type of vanity or pride, while secondly being based upon a false or unsupported premise. The Fly’s vainglory would be a single vice if the Fly actually caused the dust, but he did not, making the vice exponentially more potent.
Aesop’s point in this fable is distinct from the points in The Wolf and His Shadow and The Peacock’s Tail. [5, 6] In this fable, there is no per se immediate patent negative effect for the Fly, such as the Lion’s swat of the Wolf [*5], or the Peacock as the Hunter’s prize, respectively, in the other fables. [*6]
The genius of Aesop is in his method and creative context. Unlike the direct attack upon us like Socrates and Jesus, Aesop just tells us a little fly story. His lesson flanks us. [7]
In this lesson, Aesop teaches something new:
Foolishness is perfected in its own existence.
Aesop suggests that the Fly is made four times the fool: Alas, an immaterial being, who has pride, regarding a false premise of causation, regarding an immaterial effect.
Aesop uses dust conjoined with the itty-bitty Fly to tell his story, portending some subtle irony:
Yes, sooner or later, as to that dust, the Fly will make it or will become it.
“It was prettily devised of Aesop, The fly sat upon the axle-tree of the chariot wheel, and said, ‘What a dust do I raise!’ So are there some vain persons that, whatsoever goeth alone or moveth by others, if they have never so little hand in it, they think it is they that carry it.” ~ Francis Bacon, The Essays
“Victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan.” ~ John F. Kennedy
“Ostentation doesn’t work when it is done out of season. Nor should we show off in an affected way, for ostentation borders on vanity, and vanity on scorn. It should be exercised with moderation, so as not to turn into vulgarity, and among wise men, an excessive display of one’s gifts is not highly thought of. It takes skill not to reveal all of your perfection at once, but to do so little by little, always adding a little more. Let one glorious occasion spur you on to another greater one. You should show the least vanity about your greatest gifts. Content yourself with doing: leave saying to others. Give deeds away, don’t sell them. And don’t rent golden quills so that others can write mud, offending common sense. Try to be heroic rather than merely seem so.” ~ Baltasar Gracian, The Art of Worldly Wisdom
“He who walks higher shall fall, and he who walks lower shall be the support of all.” ~ grz
[1] Sorry, Socrates. Or, The “Apology” of Socrates [GRZ60] [LinkedIn #GRZ_60]
[2] The ONE LinkedIn Reference Set Index [GRZ183] [LinkedIn #GRZ_183]
[3] I Am Not Brainwashed, And Neither Are You. Maybe. But I Might be Wrong. [GRZ165] [LinkedIn #GRZ_165]
[4] SQL Nulls, Socrates, and Black Holes. Or, the Great Lawn Chair Debate [GRZ72] [LinkedIn #GRZ_72]
[5] Keep It Real; Or, Delusion of Self – No. 106. The Wolf and His Shadow – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_106] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_106]
[6] Pride; Or, What’s the Point? – No. 102. The Peacock’s Tail – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_102] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_102]
[7] Epilogue: On the Wisdom of Aesop [GRZ24] [LinkedIn #GRZ_24]
“Qui ambulat superius, corruet; et qui ambulat inferior, adminiculum omnium erit.” (“He who walks higher shall fall, and he who walks lower shall be the support of all.”); “Stultitia perficitur in suo esse.” (“Foolishness is perfected in its own existence.”)
Here’s a deep-dive analysis of Gregg Zegarelli’s article, “The Delusion of Self-Importance – No. 112 – The Fly on the Axle” article.
1. 🐎 Narrative Analysis: Aesop’s Subtle Setup
Fable Summary:
A Fly sits on a chariot wheel while the horses pull the vehicle at high speed, raising a cloud of dust. The Fly, mistaking the dust as his own doing, congratulates himself.
Core Irony:
The Fly:
- Contributes nothing to the motion
- Mistakes effect for cause
- Assumes credit for something that not only he didn’t do—but cannot do
This reflects self-aggrandizing delusion, a condition Aesop critiques with dry wit rather than overt judgment.
2. 🧠 Philosophical Structure & Zegarelli’s Pedagogy
Zegarelli frames the article around what might be called “delusion theory”:
a. Socratic and Christic Anchoring
- Socrates: Those who know they do not know are wiser than those who think they know.
- Jesus: Those who know they are sinners are spiritually ahead of those who believe themselves righteous.
Both figures, Zegarelli notes, expose delusion—and both paid a fatal price. Truth-telling that dismantles delusion is dangerous.
b. The “Double-Vice” of the Fly
Zegarelli teaches that the Fly suffers not from simple pride, but from false pride on a false basis:
- Vice 1: Pride
- Vice 2: False causation
- Vice 3: Immaterial action (dust is meaningless)
- Vice 4: Immaterial being (the Fly is inconsequential)
Thus, the Fly’s self-importance is a compound error, what Zegarelli calls “foolishness perfected in its own existence.”
3. 🧭 Zegarelli’s Ethos: Anti-Vanity, Anti-Ostentation, Anti-Delusion
This fable fits seamlessly into Zegarelli’s broader ethos:
- Self-restraint is virtuous
- Action > Appearance
- Delusion is the opioid of the ego
He ties in Nietzsche or Marx (as provocateurs of ideological addiction), Francis Bacon (on vainglory), JFK (“Victory has 100 fathers”), and Baltasar Gracián (on restrained greatness) to show that the error of self-importance is a universal and timeless vice.
This is classic Zegarelli pedagogy:
Use ancient story → reframe in moral-philosophical matrix → triangulate with historical-philosophical masters → deliver integrated civic-philosophical lesson.
4. 🪶 Interpreting Zegarelli’s Ending
“Yes, sooner or later, as to that dust, the Fly will make it or will become it.”
This is a brilliant dual-layer pun:
- The Fly did not make the dust… but he will one day become dust.
- It’s an inversion: he is not the cause of movement—but he is a mortal, as are we all.
Meaning:
The Fly mistakes momentary illusion for lasting substance. His false pride is tragically comedic—he celebrates his imagined power, unaware of his own impermanence.
In short:
The Fly thinks he raises dust, but he is dust.
This quiet turn draws from Ecclesiastes (“All is vanity”), and possibly Genesis (“Dust thou art…”). It’s a memento mori, but tucked within a fable about ego.
5. 🏛️ Conclusion: Aesop’s Genius, as Seen by Zegarelli
Zegarelli writes:
“Unlike the direct attack upon us like Socrates and Jesus, Aesop just tells us a little fly story. His lesson flanks us.”
This highlights his reverence for Aesop’s “indirect pedagogy”. The fable:
- Does not argue
- Does not accuse
- It simply shows, and lets you feel the foolishness
In Zegarelli’s framework, Aesop is a stealth ethicist: he leads the reader into self-recognition by wrapping hard truths in gentle parables.
🔚 Final Takeaway:
Zegarelli uses “The Fly on the Axle” not just to condemn vanity, but to warn against the seductive intoxication of self-delusion—the very thing that separates the fool from the wise. The lesson is quiet but deadly:
Don’t mistake position for power, proximity for causation, or noise for meaning.
20250506.4o
© 2013 Arnold Zegarelli and Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/delusion-self-importance-112-fly-axle-essential-zegarelli-esq-/
Related Articles:
- [132] The Naked Brain; Or, Deconstructing and Reconstructing the Human Being [GRZ132] [LinkedIn #GRZ_132]
- [98_102] Pride; Or, What’s the Point? – No. 102. The Peacock’s Tail – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_102] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_102]
- [98_106] Keep It Real; Or, Delusion of Self – No. 106. The Wolf and His Shadow – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_106] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_106]
GRZ98_112.20250506 GRZUID98_112