Some hatred expresses itself openly and fearlessly and as such
gains some respect, even from its own object. Other hatred plots
and schemes, the intelligence lends itself to the plans
completely and the whole personality suffers in consequence. Some
hatred, weak and without self-confidence, or seeking the effect
of surprise, is hypocritical, dissimulates, affects friendly
feeling, rubs its hands over insults and awaits the opportune
moment. This type is associated in all minds with a feeling of
disgust, for at bottom we rather admire the "good" hater.
We have spoken of these three specialized and directed outgrowths
of excitement, interest, love and hatred as if they were
primarily directed to the outside world, though in a previous
chapter we discussed the introspective interest. What shall we
call the love and hatred a man has for himself? Is the
self-regarding sentiment any different than the sentiment of love
for others? Is that hate and disgust we feel for ourselves, or
for some action or thought, different from the hate and disgust
we have for others?
Judged by Shand's dicta that anger and fear are aroused if the
object of love is threatened, joy is aroused as it prospers, and
sorrow if it is deeply injured or lost, self-love remarkably
resembles other-love. The pride we take in our own achievements
is unalloyed by jealousy, and there is always a trace of jealousy
in the pride we take in the achievements of others, but there is
no difference in the pride itself. There is no essential
difference in the "good" we seek for ourselves and in the good we
seek for others, for what we seek will depend on our idea of
"good." Thus the ambitious mother seeks for her daughter a rich
husband and the idealist seeks for his son a career of devotion
to the ideal. And the sensualist devoted to the good of his belly
and his pocket loves his child and shows it by feeding and
enriching him.
There seems to be lacking, however, the glow of tender feeling in
self-love. The projection of the self-interest to others has a
passion, a melting in it that self-love never seems to possess,
though it may be constant and ever-operating. Self-regard,
self-admiration or conceit may be very high and deeply felt, but
though more common than real admiration for others, it seldom
reaches the awe and reverence that the projected emotion reaches.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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