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Fearful Boasters

Children are great boasters, because they feel tiny and insecure, because the great world towers above them; and anyone who grows up so completely that he grows out of boasting will have a lot of adjustments to make before he is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven."

Those words were written by John D. Sheridan more than fifty years ago. And I don't know about you, but I could do with taking another look at them. Because my attitude to those who boast is one of intolerance; intolerance without giving a thought to the fact that my prejudice might be contributing to the collapse of the only world that person has. By opting for the company of those modest self effacing people who don't boast, I'm only taking the easy option.

I am rejecting those who lack confidence and/or self esteem and who need that little ego boost which boasting obviously gives them. Maybe I can excuse myself somewhat on the rounds that I grew up in an era when the majority agreed with Thomas Carlyle that "People ought to be modester", and in an area where anybody ranking below the schoolmaster who pronounced certain words properly or carried a fountain-pen was thought to be getting above their station.

I'm not suggesting that those few words are going to change your attitude to boasters, but they might do something for me. So the next time someone says to me "My son the engineer is coming home." or "I had terrible trouble parking my new four wheel drive outside the Shelbourne", even if I am still intolerant of them, wouldn't it be nice if I could give them an ear?

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