"It is difficult to determine with accuracy the manner, the persons, the occasions, and the length of time for which one ought to be angry, and at what point one ceases to act rightly or wrongly. For he who transgresses the limit a little is not blamed, whether it be on the side of excess or deficiency: and we sometimes praise those who fall short, and call them meek; and we call the irascible manly, as being able to govern ... the decision must be left to particular cases, and to the moral sense."[135] =163. Personal dignity.=--A generous anger, as has been seen, has its principle in the sentiment of _personal dignity_, with which the _duty of self-respect_ is connected. Man's free will is what essentially constitutes the dignity of human nature, the moral personality. Man's duty toward himself as a moral personality is then dependent upon his will. This duty of self-respect, of the moral personality, has been admirably expressed by Kant, and we can do no better than transcribe here the passage: "Man, considered as an animal, is a being of but mediocre importance, and is not worth any more than other animals. His utility and worth is that of any marketable thing.--But, considered as a personality, he is priceless; he is possessed of a _dignity_ which can claim the respect of all other reasonable creatures, and which allows him to measure himself with each of them, and consider himself their equal. "But this respect, which he has a right to exact of every other man, he should not despoil himself of. He can, and should, therefore, estimate himself both in ratio to his greatness and littleness, according as he considers himself a sensuous being (in his animal nature), or an intelligent being (in his moral nature). But as he should not only consider himself as a person in general, but also as an individual man, his lesser worth as animal-man should not impair the consciousness he has of his dignity as reasonable man, and he must hold on to the moral estimate he makes of himself as such. In other words, he should not pursue his aims in a lowly and servile manner, as if he solicited favors: this would be abdicating his dignity; he should always uphold within himself the consciousness of the nobility of his moral faculties, for it is this estimate of one's self which constitutes the duty of man toward himself.