Praise

We cannot be too Circumspect how we receive Praise: For if we contemplate our selves in a false Glass, we are sure to be mistaken about our Dues; and because we are too apt to believe what is Pleasing, rather than what is True, we may be too easily swell’d, beyond our just Proportion, by the Windy Compliments of Men.

-William Penn


It is people of substance and people of character that have built the quality things in life. People that put their backs into what they do and toil to accomplish remarkable things. The end result of what they have built is what matters to that industrious individual, be it skyscrapers or written word.

The people that work to create something of substance will stand behind their results. If those results better the lives of people, then they have accomplished something honorable.

If a person's purpose for creating something is merely to gather flattery from others, they are undertaking a shallow and narcissistic pursuit. If something is made for others - presented to the public - only for the temporary light it shines on the presenter, then the work will prove itself to be unremarkable. So much so that the effort will need to be done again and again in order to recapture that fleeting moment of praise.


-North