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It matters not

Knowing the kind of things others only wonder about is unimportant. It matters not how much or how little you know, nor how deeply you think. That is immaterial, if it does nothing to improve your character and merely adds to your conceit.

Being able to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong is unimportant. It matters not your sense of morality or of propriety. That is immaterial, if it does nothing to improve your character and merely adds to your conceit.

Having genius for what you do is unimportant. It matters not how talented you are or how you are enjoying your success. That is immaterial, if it does nothing to improve your character and merely adds to your conceit.

What people think of you is unimportant. It matters not what people say about what you ought or what you ought not to or whether or not you are liked. That is immaterial, if it does nothing to improve your character and merely adds to your conceit.

Intelligence, good intentions, success, even love. That is immaterial. If it does nothing to improve your character and merely adds to your conceit, then it is not a worthwhile endeavor. Because what you have and what you achieve in this life are unimportant. It is what you do with all these and ultimately, what they do to you, that defines your existence.

The only true great men are those who have knelt in front of great art and sought not to change it but to be changed by it. The greatest men are those who bettered themselves not for the sake of being better but because it is the only thing that matters.

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