CONDESCENSION.
"He's such a condescending gentleman." Fifty years ago that would have been high praise. People were then grateful for being condescended to. Now condescension seems to us not a virtue but an insult. For what does it mean when a man or a woman condescends to oth«rs ? It means that he or she claims to be socially or intellectually superior. But those who really are wiser and more full of knowledge than the rest of us never make a boast of it. True superiority is always accompaniad by true modesty. And this modesty is based opon a clear perception of the limited nature of all intellectual attainments. One person may know more about one subject, or even about several subjects, than another. But there are many who know more than that person does about other suhjjects. Condescension does no harm to anyone but tjhe condescender. It provokes merriment as a rule. But those who condescend grow more and more foolish, more and more conceited. They are cut off from pleasant, natural intercourse. They become isolated, arrogant, absurd. —L.(j.
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Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 230, 28 September 1928, Page 6
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179CONDESCENSION. Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 230, 28 September 1928, Page 6
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