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Modesty, in people of moderate ability, is merely honesty, but in people of great talent it is hypocrisy.  Hence it is just as becoming in the latter to openly admit the regard they have for themselves, and not to conceal the fact that they are conscious of possessing exceptional capabilities, as it is in the former to be modest.  Valerius Maximus gives some very good examples of this in his chapter de fiducia sui.

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Man even surpasses all the lower order of animals in his capacity for being trained.  Mohammedans are trained to pray five times a day with their faces turned towards Mecca; and they do it regularly.  Christians are trained to make the sign of the Cross on certain occasions, and to bow, and so forth; so that religion on the whole is a real masterpiece of training—­that is to say, it trains people what they are to think; and the training, as is well known, cannot begin too early.  There is no absurdity, however palpable it may be, which may not be fixed in the minds of all men, if it is inculcated before they are six years old by continual and earnest repetition.  For it is the same with men as with animals, to train them with perfect success one must begin when they are very young.

Noblemen are trained to regard nothing more sacred than their word of honour, to believe earnestly, rigidly, and firmly in the inane code of knight-errantry, and if necessary to seal their belief by death, and to look upon a king as a being of a higher order.  Politeness and compliments, and particularly our courteous attitude towards ladies, are the result of training; and so is our esteem for birth, position, and title.  And so is our displeasure at certain expressions directed against us, our displeasure being proportionate to the expression used.  The Englishman has been trained to consider his being called no gentleman a crime worthy of death—­a liar, a still greater crime; and so, the Frenchman, if he is called a coward; a German, if he is called a stupid.  Many people are trained to be honest in some particular direction, whilst in everything else they exhibit very little honesty; so that many a man will not steal money, but he will steal everything that will afford him enjoyment in an indirect way.  Many a shopkeeper will deceive without scruple, but he will on no condition whatever steal.

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The doctor sees mankind in all its weakness; the lawyer in all its wickedness; the theologian in all its stupidity.

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Opinion obeys the same law as the swing of the pendulum:  if it goes beyond the centre of gravity on one side, it must go as far beyond on the other.  It is only after a time that it finds the true point of rest and remains stationary.

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