Chapter 7 Volume 1 Chapter 7

Admonish people not to boast, and anyone who wants to show off should try to make himself truly what he wants to show off.A person who is not such a person and pretends to be such a person will definitely cause trouble and ridicule to himself, and may also bring shame and damage to the country. Let us consider again whether, because Socrates exhorts his disciples not to show off, it does not motivate them to pursue virtue.He used to say: There is no better road to glory than to be as good a person as you wish to be.In order to prove that what he said was correct, he adopted the following argument:

"Let us consider," said he, "what must be done by a man who is not good at playing the flute, but who wants to appear to be one. Does he not have to imitate in the outward appearance of this art Those who play the flute well? First, since the flute player is richly clothed, and has a crowd following him wherever he goes, he must do the same; They applauded, and he had to find many to applaud him; but he must not try to play, otherwise he would at once appear to be a very ridiculous person, not only a bad piper, but also a madman. a braggart. Thus, after spending a great deal of money, he not only gains nothing, but brings shame on himself, and makes his life heavy, useless, and ridiculous. Likewise, a man is not a good A general or a good pilot wants to appear to be a good general or a good pilot, let us think about the situation.

Wouldn't Zhang feel pained by his failure to be convincing after all his efforts to show that he had these abilities?If his endeavors were fortunately successful, would not this success bring him greater misfortune?For it is evident that a man appointed without the requisite knowledge to steer a ship or lead an army can only bring ruin to those whom he will not destroy, and at the same time expose himself to shame and pain. " In the same way he proves that it is useless to act as a man who is not rich, brave, or powerful.He said, "People put tasks on them that they are not qualified for, and when they fail people's expectations, people will not treat them with mercy."He called the man who borrowed money or goods from others by persuasion and refused to return them to be no small liar, but he believed that the greatest liars were those who were not qualified to deceive others. people.

I think that by talking of this sort Socrates discouraged boasting among his disciples.