Read Carnegie – improve your vanity

Improve your vanity

We all have vanity, but we hate vanity. In fact, vanity is not necessarily a bad thing, Carnegie told people: If you want to succeed, you need to improve your vanity.

What is vanity? The dictionary explains that vanity refers to superficial brilliance. People have not only self-centeredness, but also vanity, and the two sometimes seem difficult to distinguish. Everyone has vanity, from the president down to the common people. Carnegie said that finding someone in the world without vanity is as difficult as finding someone who has no hidden inferior feelings in his heart. Since ancient times, many philosophers and poets have preached against human vanity, but human vanity has not diminished slightly. It turns out that vanity is a characteristic of human beings and a contradiction in life.

Whether you admit it or not, your vanity is always there. As long as you have inferior feelings in your heart, you will cover them up by vanity. The role of vanity, nothing more. But why do philosophers and poets lash out at vanity? This is because vanity not only directly harms the individual, but also accepts its obstruction throughout human civilization.

John and Jack were still two little children, still cowards. John sneered at Jack, saying that his hair was red and unseemly, and that he was proud of his black hair. Jack was insulted and distressed, so he tried to find John's weakness and retorted: "Although my hair is red, my father has a cadillac high-class car, and your father has only a regular Ford. The result was that John and Jack were antagonistic, and normal social relationships disappeared because of vanity.

Carnegie said that the story of John and Jack is also the story of the entire history of mankind, and since ancient times, the human stage has been playing out such stories. Men boast that they are more shrewd and capable than women; caucasians boast of superiority over people of color all over the world; American women, who are beautiful for their thinness; women in Turkey, who pride themselves on being fat; Poles who are stronger than Hungarians; Hungarians who think they are more interested than Mongols; Mongols who refuse to show weakness because their ancestors once conquered China; Chinese there were four great inventions in ancient times, and they consciously felt that they were much nobler than Americans who worshiped machines and money. And all that. Carnegie said that there are as many ways of vanity as infinite as the sea sand, but regardless of the form of vanity, it is all vanity!

The characteristic of vanity is to take offense rather than defensive position, so the vanity man, surrounded by his enemies, not only does not enjoy the peaceful pleasures of life, but also declares war on his companions from time to time. Carnegie said the tragedy of competition over vanity is the unfortunate and worst thing in the world. There are countless examples of people losing their lives because of the competition of vanity, and there are only many examples of vanity in which the vanity man can sustain his vanity forever.

Carnegie said that human vanity is already deeply rooted and difficult to eradicate. To solve the common problem of human vanity is not at all a question of how to destroy it, but of how to improve it and induce it to go in a useful direction. For the destruction of vanity may be tantamount to the destruction of the entire human race, and even if there is only one last man left in the world, he will be vain for his existence.

For the sake of the beautiful and vain, we should tell her, is your vanity of no good to oneself and to others, is it not boring? Why don't you use your beauty as a tool to influence the young people who have sinned, then, although you are vain, people will forgive you; the person who is vain for money, we should tell him, take your money out to run a business, improve people's lives, then your vanity will also be forgiven by people. Great beauties give love, monopolists do good deeds, you and I have seen, although they are infinite, but they do not attract people's hatred. Carnegie said that vanity is not only harmless but beneficial as long as it is used in the interests of human society. Who scolded Diana, Li Ka-shing, and Einstein as vain? They will always be the most glorious people in the world.

Vanity may be the driving force behind your success, or it may be the enemy of your success. Don't destroy vanity, but improve it!