Daily Meditation: Thursday, February 6, 2003

To appear in what she believes to be her best light, a …

02/06/2003

To appear in what she believes to be her best light, a woman presents herself before a wise man with her hair beautifully done, her make up in place, her body perfumed... The wise man, who understands beauty in a completely different way, is polite; he will not tell her that she is mistaken and that he is not at all impressed, because he sees something very different beneath all this artifice. Some will say: 'So, must we present ourselves before a wise man shabbily dressed in order to impress him favourably?' Believing he could gain the esteem of Socrates in this way, a rich Athenian, very full of himself, had dressed in rags before going to visit him; you could even see his flesh through the torn material. Socrates looked at him for a long time, then said to him: 'You see, your pride is still apparent through these holes.' He was not taken in! Whether you are wearing rags or luxurious clothes does not matter much to a wise man, because what he is looking at is your soul.