The Gift
“Trust thyself,” says Emerson; “every heart vibrates to that iron string.” This is wholesome and inspiring advice, but there is, as always, another side to the question. Many a man falls into absurdities and mistakes because he cannot get outside of himself and look at himself from other people’s eyes. We should cultivate the ability to see everything, including ourselves, from more than one standpoint.
O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
And foolish notion;
What airs in dress an’ gait wad lea’e us,
And ev’n devotion!