Excerpt #24 from my book, Interconnected, Interrelated & Interdependent, Like It or Not:
DEMOCRACY AND WISDOM — SELF-CENTEREDNESS
The wise were and are well aware of the dangers of selfcenteredness.
It, more than any other phenomenon, accounts for the troubles we know.
The wise have attempted to lead us away from our narrow self-interests.
Their attitude toward others was more than respect; it was reverential.
They knew we are all but a fragile strand in a complex web.
We exist as a tiny fragment of an immensely larger interlocking whole in which all the parts are interconnected and depend upon each other for survival.
Lao Tzu, the father of Taoism, well aware of the pitfalls of a self-centered consciousness said:
Standing tiptoe a man loses balance, admiring himself, he does so alone . . .
At no time in the world will a man who is sane
over-reach himself,
over-spend himself,
over-rate himself.
Benjamin Franklin, in his way, similarly observed: “He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals.”
The Taoists had an almost reverential attitude toward humility.
One of their sayings which is expressive of this attitude is “selfless as melting ice.”
They were fond of pointing out that the value of cups, windows, and doorways was found precisely in those parts of them that are empty.
Similarly, they recognized that pride represents nothing but a shallow distraction from fully experiencing life.
Surrounded with treasure
you lie ill at ease,
proud beyond measure
you come to your knees;
do enough, without vying,
be living, not dying.
In a related sense, and in the interplay between politics and wisdom, we find Confucius speaking of leaders who are beyond personal ambition:
“Only those are worthy to govern who would rather be excused.”
Plato speaks of the criteria by which such leaders are chosen:
“Then tell me, 0 Critias, how will a man choose the ruler that shall rule over him?
Will he not choose a man who has first established order in himself, knowing that any decision that has its spring from anger or pride or vanity can be multiplied a thousandfold in its effects upon the citizens?”
Confucius, as if adding to Plato’s remarks, states:
“He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star which keeps its place, and all the stars turn toward it.”
So strongly did Jefferson feel about honesty that he once remarked:
“I wish that not only no act, but no thought of mine be unknown.
The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.”