How to understand vanity. What is vanity - the path to success or sinful passion
Saying the word "conceited" people usually mean a person who by hook or by crook tries to look successful, makes his way up the career ladder, always looks successful in front of other people, constantly strives to take a higher position in society and any areas of life. Often, such people may have a pronounced attraction to popularity, fame, recognition. Most of all they want to be talked about, admired, envied. Is it good or bad? Is it possible to go beyond vanity?
What is vanity?
This word includes two components - "vanity" and "glory". What is vanity? It is something empty, unnecessary, useless. In general, it turns out that the literal meaning of the word is empty glory. If we translate this into a more understandable language, then we can say that vanity is the desire for undeserved momentary fame, popularity, recognition. Often, without putting any effort into this, a person longs for deification, demanding praise and admiration from those around him. Naturally, the self-esteem of such people is overestimated. Vanity can be compared to pride. Both are considered a mortal sin in religion.
It is difficult to name such a character trait as virtues, and it is not always easy for vain people in life, because respect and admiration still need to be earned with something. No one will grovel before a person who simply has high self-esteem.
How does it manifest itself?
Vain people are rare braggarts. They love to enthusiastically talk about their achievements to the audience, to see their surprised, respectful faces, to listen to praise and flattery in their address. He will achieve an excellent reputation by any means, even if for this it is necessary to step over the feelings of other people or resort to deceit and hypocrisy. Flatterers and egoists usually gather around them, also thirsting for their own benefit.
It is quite logical to conclude that a vain person can hardly be called happy. And even more so, you should not envy him. No matter what such a person does, no matter how hard he tries to stand out against the background of the environment, he still will not achieve true respect and love. Yes, in a successful scenario, he will get what he wanted - he will be flattered, envied, but on an emotional level he remains unclaimed.
Unsatisfied vanity
Perhaps those who really managed to reach heights can boast that they are quite happy and satisfied with life. But this does not happen in all cases. More often than not, people only crave, but get nothing. From this arises a feeling of infringement, dissatisfaction with fate (but not with oneself).
Such people develop a persistent feeling that they could not appreciate it. And his whole life turns into empty dreams on the topic "if only, if only." If it had turned out differently, if I had been a little more lucky, but I could ... This can go on indefinitely.
As a result, it turns out that there are much more vain people than it seems, it's just that this character trait is disguised as doom and dissatisfaction with one's life.
How to recognize a vain person?
It is very simple to do this, you just need to pay attention to his demeanor in society.
- Such people cannot stand criticism in their address, despite the fact that it is constructive, pronounced not for the purpose of laughing, but with the urge to point out the shortcoming gently and in the correct form.
- But flattery can listen endlessly, spreading with pleasure, like an oil pancake.
- They talk a lot, often appear in crowded places, always striving to take center stage in the company. At the same time, his words very rarely correspond to deeds and they rarely fulfill promises.
How to direct vanity in the right direction?
However, in some cases, this quality cannot be called so negative. Some vain people who have managed to properly use their desires have achieved a lot and even benefited society. If you do not let your promises to success go to waste, then a person may have an incentive to study, inventions, discoveries.
That is, vanity can be used as an incentive to achieve your goals. By correctly using the messages, a person will not get rid of vanity, but can make it justified. Proud of oneself by right is much more pleasant, right?
If you yourself realized that you are conceited and this quality makes life difficult for you, then you can try to contact a psychologist. No one guarantees that he will help you get rid of it, but you will receive a number of tips in which direction to work on yourself in order to finally start getting results, eradicate the negative side of vanity and learn to enjoy your life.
Vanity- a pronounced (internal or external) desire for earthly glory, vain and meaningless from the point of view of God, useless in relation to salvation and eternal life; passion for earthly honors, reverence.
Is vanity a form of psychological addiction?
By its inner nature, vanity is. Like any other sinful passion, vanity, developing, takes possession of a person to such an extent that it actually turns him into his prisoner or slave.
The vain man seeks glory almost wherever he can find it; smitten with this vice, the unfortunate man is ready to be proud of almost every one of his, more or less significant, deeds.
Vain people are found among representatives of various social strata, religious communities. There are also Christians.
Surprisingly, quite often conceited people look for reasons for arrogance and praise even in what seems to be completely alien to arrogance and a thirst for praise, for example, in.
“Humbling” in form, but not in essence, the conceited one finds for himself additional reasons for self-aggrandizement, for conceited self-esteem, they say, oh, how humble I am, what a fine fellow! The falsely resigned proud man experiences especially great pleasure when the people around him enthusiastically pay attention to his “humility”: oh, how he humbly bows, how modestly he dresses, how meekly and humbly he talks with the priest, how humbly he beats his chest!
Often vain people publicly call themselves the first sinners, the most sinful of all sinners, which, again, show feigned humility and. In reality, this kind of "humility" and "repentance" are the most sophisticated form of pride, they say, ah, how unfeigned I am, ah, how sincere and open, ah, what a fine fellow!
It happens that there is no trace of “humility” and “repentance” as soon as reproof, even just, is expressed by strangers. Hearing such denunciations, a vain person instantly forgets that he is a sinner among sinners, worthy of punishment, and instead of a good-natured agreement with the accuser, he angrily answers him, something like this: look at yourself, wretched one! who are you to tell me how to live?
A person infected with vanity reacts painfully to a lack of recognition of his personal merits, to a deficit. He does not just strive for earthly, vain glory: he spends a significant part of his personal time, his own strength in search of it. Consequently, vanity is nothing but a form of unhealthy psychological dependence.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
... In today's Gospel, we are told about Zacchaeus the publican; about a man who managed to overcome the most, perhaps, the most difficult and most constant temptation of our life, namely, vanity. And through this, throwing himself into the judgment of God and despising the opinion and judgment of man, he became capable of being a child of the Kingdom of God. Pride is the assertion that we are self-sufficient, that we do not need either the Creator, or the Provider, or the Judge, or God, or man. This is the statement that we ourselves are the law, the beginning and the end. But in vanity, as he says, we become insolent before God and cowardly before people; because a vain person is a person who seeks approval from people, who submits himself to human judgment, forgetting that over him is the judgment of God, the judgment of eternal truth.
A vain person is a person who is afraid of what people will think and say about him; this is a person who is ready to buy their approval at any cost: to become unworthy of himself, to become unworthy of God, if only he is not rejected, if only he is not condemned, not ridiculed, if only he is praised. And the vainglorious man seeks this praise not in the greatest that is in himself, but in anything, the basest, the most insignificant, by which he can buy human approval or ward off human judgment from himself. And what is even worse, this court is kind, this approval, this support he seeks from people whom he himself despises in the secret of his soul, from people who often in his own eyes have no right to utter over him or over anyone there was a judgment over anything, because their standards are too low, too insignificant. And through vanity a person becomes smaller, humiliated, becomes unworthy of his own respect; and at the same time he puts aside God's judgment: because God's judgment demands greatness from him, demands from him that he never sell himself to human judgment. This temptation of vanity for each of us, at every moment, is a danger; he clings to good and to evil. And through what is good in us, and through what is contemptible in us, we are looking for human approval, we are looking to buy people's good attitude, and therefore not only evil, but also good are poisoned by this vanity.
Hello, dear readers of the blog site. A little earlier, we already managed to consider some of the negative qualities of human nature -, and.
Vanity is the need for vain glory
Vanity is a negative quality of personality, which is expressed in painful need prove their superiority, receive praise from others, achieve fame and honors.
According to Christian postulates, it is one of the eight deadly sins that can destroy the human soul and give rise to other base passions. How to overcome vanity in yourself? Let's try to understand this difficult issue.
The noun vanity came from the merger of two words - futility and glory. In a literal interpretation, the meaning of the word vanity is the need for empty honors. A deeper interpretation suggests that earthly glory is perishable and transient, so striving for it is a waste of inner strength to the detriment of one's spiritual development.
Words close in meaning (synonyms) are pride, arrogance, arrogance, arrogance, bragging, arrogance. - simplicity, modesty, humility.
The origins of vanity in man
According to psychologists, vanity is the product of unhealthy self-esteem.
And often the prerequisites for its development are laid in the early years. Let's consider a simple example. From the childhood of man teach to like others, get good grades in school, compete with peers and strive for excellence.
At first, all this looks quite logical - the child studies best of all, wins sports competitions, for which he receives commendable letters and respect for others. But at some stage there is a substitution of values and the logical chain is broken.
The admiration of parents and friends, applause and encouragement become more important for the student than daily work, study and training. He starts to get conceited feel superior.
Now all his actions are aimed at getting another loud praise, while playing sports or studying his favorite subject fade into the background. Thus vanity begins to take root in the fragile soul of a child.
No less prone to conceited thoughts are adults. This is especially true of public personalities who have achieved significant success in their careers and creativity. It is often said that glory test is one of the most difficult.
Weak-minded people become addicted to external recognition, like a drug.
Having experienced at least once the euphoria of high-profile achievements, they begin to suffer from star fever, use any means to become famous again. It is very difficult for vain people to endure the loss of popularity, because they forget that earthly glory is vain, transient.
Relation to vanity in religion
Religion equates vanity with morbid passion and encourages everyone eradicate in yourself this insidious disease. According to spiritual mentors, vanity is fraught with a serious threat, as it pushes a person onto the path of cruel self-deception.
Instead of internal growth and self-development, a vain person is engaged in achieving external illusory success. But with such an approach, he will never be able to get closer to God and achieve spiritual rebirth!
Vanity is also dangerous because it gives rise to many other vices, the main of which is pride. More precisely, these two passions exist side by side in the soul of a sinful person.
And if vanity seeks to please others in order to receive another praise from them, then pride pushes its owner to humiliate other people, look down on them. Both of these sins are difficult to eradicate but sincere faith in God helps a person to realize their harmful effects, purify his soul and become humble.
Manifestations of vanity in character and actions
Sometimes vanity manifests itself in the form of petty boasting, but in some cases it can take on the character of a destructive passion that affects the human psyche and makes him spend all his strength on proving his own exclusivity.
The main signs of vanity:
- Intolerance to criticism.
- Dependence on someone else's opinion.
- The desire to be the center of attention.
- Susceptibility to flattery.
- Loquacity, discrepancy between words and deeds.
A person affected by the vanity virus is very dependent on the opinions of others. Therefore, all his behavior is aimed at make an outward impression. He likes to make loud statements, behave defiantly, emphasize his own importance.
Any criticism from the outside is perceived by a vain person very painfully, because he is completely unprepared to admit his shortcomings. But he is very greedy for flattering speeches, because he needs constant praise.
How to deal with vanity
A deep understanding of what vanity is and how dangerous it is for a person allows you to effectively deal with this shortcoming. Help to get rid of vice the following personality traits:
- adequate self-esteem.
- Ability to accept constructive criticism.
- Sense of humor and self-irony.
- Love for your work.
A person with healthy self-esteem is well aware of his strengths and weaknesses, and therefore does not feel the need to seem perfect in someone's eyes and hear. He calmly perceives constructive criticism and uses it for the purpose of self-development.
A mature person treats his mistakes with humor, and his achievements - with self-irony, he does not have self-abasement or pride. But, most importantly, he is passionate about what he loves, so he gets enjoyment of the process, no thinking about the hype and publicity.
And yet, how to protect yourself from vanity in case of resounding success? How not to succumb to temptation and not ascend on the wings of pride?
It is important to understand that any personal victory is the result of the participation of other people - mentors, family members, friends. And the more significant the achievement, the greater the merit of those who taught, supported, helped as best they could.
The ability to recognize this fact allows you to get rid of conceited thoughts, maintain a healthy self-esteem, share the joy of success with loved ones.
Good luck to you! See you soon on the blog pages site
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church Slav., from t'shch' (skinny) in the meaning of "empty") - the desire for honor, for praise, for the recognition of imaginary one's merits, merits, including doing good for the sake of praise and honors; boasting of one's merits, wealth, high position, origin. A typical reaction to vanity is contempt, annoyance, sycophancy; can be combined with contempt for others. Wed in the novel by A. Dumas "Twenty years later" Porthos dreams of the title of baron and strives to get it.
Ambition is outwardly always vain, and vanity is capable of humiliation and meanness, if only it is publicly and outwardly worshiped; it also accepts the most vulgar flattery, causing self-praise (Dal's Dictionary).
The so-called generosity is usually based on vanity, which is dearer to us than everything that we give (La Rochefoucauld).
Doesn't vanity give off a deadening, all-draining breath? (O. Balzac, Country Ball).
How could nature in man closely connect the high with the low? Between them she puts vanity (W. Goethe).
Only one joy survives all the pleasures - vanity (O. Balzac, Gobsek).
Will you confess, Polinka? I love when others like you. It even tickles me pleasantly when I know that several people are seriously sighing for you. This is bad, but this is my weakness, my pride (A. Druzhinin, Polinka Sachs).
The love of a man who does not please a woman is for her the satisfaction of her vanity, the awakening of her long dormant hopes. For she declares a claim simultaneously to all the men of the world (O. Weininger, Sex and character).
By the command of God, O muse, be obedient,
Not afraid of resentment, not demanding a crown,
Accepting praise and slander indifferently ...
(A. Pushkin, Monument)
Vanity was depicted as a woman with peacock feathers and butterflies flying around, looking into a mirror.
The demon of vanity rejoices, seeing the multiplication of our virtues: the more success we have, the more food for vanity (John of the Ladder).
Wed ambition.
VANITY
a socio-psychological property of a person, which expresses arrogance, overestimation of one's capabilities, the desire for veneration and glory. T. is both exaggerated pride and a desire to appear better than other people. A vain person can commit unseemly acts for the sake of receiving undeserved rewards and drawing attention to his person. In the process of growing up, young men and women think about the question of how their peers and adults treat them, how to achieve their positive assessment of specific actions. Secondary school teachers and university professors can seriously help them in this, suggest to students that self-affirmation in life must be morally justified means and really useful deeds (M. I. Dyachenko, L. A. Kandybovich, 1996). T. often leads to interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts. The deep psychological reason for T. m. inferiority complex. A vain person needs regular external confirmation of his worth.
