A young man, educated in management,
lands an excellent job;
the company even assigns him a private cabin of his own to work from.
On his first day at the office,
as the young man sits admiring his magnificent cabin, he hears a knock at the door.
Standing there is a rather ordinary-looking man;
yet, instead of inviting him in,
the young man tells him to wait outside for half an hour.
After half an hour has passed,
the man requests permission to enter the office once again.
Upon seeing him enter, the young man immediately begins talking on the telephone.
He speaks of vast sums of money and starts boasting extravagantly about his luxurious lifestyle.
The man standing before him listens to every word,
yet the young man continues to spin his tall tales over the phone.
Only when he has finished his conversation does he finally turn to the ordinary man and ask,
"What brings you here?"
Looking at the young man with a humble demeanor, the man replies,
"Sir, I have come here to repair the telephone.
I received a report that the very phone you were just speaking on has been out of order for a whole week; that is why I am here—to fix it."
Upon hearing this, the young man turns crimson with shame and quietly slips out of the room.
He had received the fitting consequence of his pretense.
The moral of this story is that when we achieve success, we naturally feel a great sense of pride in ourselves—and this is entirely normal. Pride instills in us a sense of self-respect;
however, beyond a certain point, it morphs into arrogance.
You cease to be merely self-respecting and become conceited; and the moment you become conceited, you begin to show off in front of others.