Deny Arrogance...

The article titled “What I’ve learned” wasn’t of particular interest to me. It contained quotes from great men such as Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, but what caught my attention was that in the middle of a former president and a cleric of South Africa, both rivals of apartheid, was an actor; Clint Eastwood. Curiosity stopped me.

What could he have to say?

“Take your profession seriously; don’t take yourself seriously. You really only matter to a certain degree in the whole circus out there. If you take yourself seriously, you’re not going to be able to move forward. You’re going to be hampered by always wanting to look in the mirror and see if you have enough tuna oil on your hair or something like that.”

I really liked that, “You really only matter to a certain degree...” but I think Clint was being generous. Let me explain why…

A thousand years ago.
As important now as we were then.
A thousand years from now.
As indispensable as we will be then, right now.
The vantage point of the endless universe of unknown age.
Our life seen as insignificant as a snowflake, with an equal longevity.

Ever seen Saving Private Ryan? Do you remember how you felt when you watched those heroic patriots storm the beach of Normandy as brave men dropped like flies? That was someone’s son. That was someone’s father. That was someone’s husband. Their lives were snuffed out like candles in the wind.

I got the same feeling when I watched We Were Soldiers. Especially the scene where a brave young man carries a wounded soldier to a chopper, and turns to go retrieve another only to have his life ended by a bullet.
Here one second, gone the next.

Sometimes I like to look at a picture of a huge crowd and just imagine that I’m somewhere in there. I never recognize anyone, but I obviously can’t find myself. I’m not there. And really, that’s just how significant I am. And I don’t care how powerful, how popular, or rich you are, that’s really just how significant you are, too.

Yeah, I know, the motto here on ATS is “Deny Ignorance”, but from the way I see it, if you don’t deny arrogance, it doesn’t really matter what you know… unless first you KNOW you’re a nobody. (Way too many think they're a knowbody.)

Yeah, Clint, I totally agree with you. “If you take yourself (( or anyone else)) seriously, you won’t be able to move forward. If you do, you’ll really be distracted.” Constantly checking yourself in the mirror to make sure your pretty boy hair-do is just right, or “to see if you have enough tuna oil in your hair…” or something ridiculous and insignificant like that.

Deny arrogance.



[edit on 29-10-2008 by apaulo]

Perhaps I should’ve added this in the OP, but if you have something to add concerning arrogance, or better yet, it's opposite, feel free to post it here.

Many said selfishness was the flaw of our modern age; but then self-conceit emerged from a corner of the deepest hell to join selfishness.

The demand to be loved is the greatest of all arrogant presumptions.

“O human creature, ... you are the investigator without knowledge, the magistrate without jurisdiction, and all in all, the fool of the farce.”

- Michel de Montaigne

"LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath."

-Psalms 39:4










[edit on 9-11-2008 by apaulo]

I LOVE this thread. Fabulous Idea.

“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”
Forest E. Witcraft

I do understand how insignificant we are in the whole scheme of life.

With that said I have to be brutally honest and say that I am somebody. I am special.

I don't have yesterday nor do I have tomorrow. All I have is right now. Right now I am very special to my family and friends and my pets.

I am a part of life and am leaving my foot print for those that go ahead of me. For those yet to be born I am setting the stage for their entrance into life. Somebody invented electricity. Somebody discovered penicillin. Somebody discovered the world was not flat. Many somebodies made it possible for the International space station to exist. We all leave a foot print on this world.

I am somebody and so are you. In a few years I will be nobody. But right now I am somebody.

Love and Peace

I like to put myself in perspective with a Quote from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It is when Zaphod enter the Total Perspective Vortex, the most horrible torture in the universe.

"When you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it a tiny little mark, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says, "You are here.""

If that doesn't make you think about your place in the grand scheme of the universe then I don't know what will.

"Be modest! It is the kind of pride least likely to offend."
-Jules Renard

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.”
-Albert Einstein

"Our best thoughts come from others.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Arrogance test-

Do you think it is more important to be acknowledged as the originator of the thought than the importance of the thought itself? If you came across a breaking story or an incredible discovery, would it give you great pain to have another share it, receive the credit and applause?

Yikes, I think I just found a some more in me…

When I get sick and tired of the craziness on ATS I turn to BTS and read in the General Chit Chat, or Rant, but here lately I see a lot of… how should I say it; sniveling? Is that the right word? I dunno. But the bottom line brought me back to my own post… Deny Arrogance. I feel I just got to add something more;

I have found that they key to getting along, even with people that just totally rub you the wrong way, is to deny arrogance. Deny your self-importance. Who am I anyway? A Nobody! Stop demanding respect, and just give it. What does it cost anyway? Some loose change in your pride.

Just as an example, last night I stopped by Wal-Mart to rent a movie from a Redbox. I was driving my little mini wanna-be car that fits just right into the front row parking that is marked off with lines. No, technically it isn’t a parking spot, but my wanna-be fits. I come to a stop and notice a huge jacked up 4 wheel drive loaded with add-ons, and the owner walking up to it as I get out of my car. He is a short guy that looks like he belongs with the Hells Angels… all rough and tough, and with him is a beautiful young lady that must be his daughter. He says, “Now that’s a lazy ass way of parking!”

I’m in a hurry. I really don’t even have the time to be there, so I’m nearly running when I blurt, “You’re tell me!” His daughter laughs, and I think she must get embarrassed a lot by him. But this wasn’t the response he wanted, so he shouts, “Dumb ass!”

I couldn’t help but think of a similar scene with Adam Sandler where he answers back, “Hey, I’m not your dad!” If I would’ve had the time I would like to have said that, as well as “ Just because your dad was a jerk, doesn’t mean you have to angry at the world… oh, and by the way, I love the truck. That is a cool truck…”

Which brings me back to the subject matter; Deny Arrogance. Don’t take people or yourself seriously. Like the guy I mentioned, he was angry long before I ever came along, and he’ll still be angry long after. We can’t change anyone, but we can change our attitude… so lighten up. Be happy.