The Conflation of Pride and Vanity
Vanity is to pride as appearance is to substance.
One is to be; the other is to appear as such. All are allowed to be silently great. The Himalayas and the Niagaras are not begrudged their majesty, but only because they are wordless in their glory. They simply are what they are; they do not speak of being so. We should learn the lessons of mum nature.
Every wealthy person is admired and applauded, except for two reasons. The first is that they have gained their wealth by unsavory and unearned ways. All who begin life with a surplus of wealth by their family name also begin life with a deficit of glory, for every triumph is halved in compensation for their advantage. Though you may be born rich with money; you are by equal measure stunted in the public eye. The second reason is that they are not satisfied with being wealthy but must appear so as well. All of us bask in the light of the sun, and all of us recognize the rewards of great industry; we needn’t be reminded to do so.
It is a sign of poverty to value symbols of wealth. In the culture of poverty, there is no real wealth, and so outward signs become more important than substance. Expensive clothes and jewelry are housed in rooms next to empty fridges and decaying walls. Vanity doesn’t die when starved; the less it is able to satisfy itself, the…
