Asking for help in its varied form of praise, appreciation and
kindness, giving help as appreciation and kindness, are the weak
and strong aspects of the fellowship feelings. It is a cynical
view of life, perhaps, but it is probably true that the weak
phase is more common and more constant than the second. Almost
everybody loves praise and appreciation, for these enlarge the
ego feeling, and some, perhaps most, like to be helped, though
here, as was above stated, there is a feeling of inferiority
aroused which may be painful. Relatively there are few who are
ready to praise, especially those with whom they are in close
contact and with whom they are in a sort of rivalry. The same is
true of genuine appreciation, of real warm fellow feeling; the
leader, the hero, the great man receives that but not the fellow
next door. As for giving, charity, kindness, these are common
enough in a sporadic fashion, but rarely are they sustained and
constant, and often they have to depend on the desire "not to be
outdone," not to seem inferior,--have, as it were, to be shamed
into activity. For there is competition even in fellowship.
There are people, especially among the hysterics, who are deeply
wounded when sympathy is not given, when appreciation and praise
is withheld or if there is the suggestion of criticism. They are
people of a "tender ego," not self-sustaining, demanding the help
of others and reacting to the injury sustained, when it is not
given, by prolonged emotion. These sensitive folk, who form a
most difficult group, do not all react alike, of course. Some
respond with anger and ideas of persecution, some with a
prolonged humiliation and feeling of inferiority; still others
develop symptoms that are meant to appeal to the conscience of
the one who has wounded them. On the other hand, there are those
whose feeling of self sustains them in the face of most
criticism, who depend largely upon the established mentor within
themselves and who seek to conform to the rulings of that inward
mentor. Such people, if not martyred too soon, and if possessed
of a fruitful ideal, lay new criteria for praise and blame.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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