24
Even Heroes Are Insecure
From none but self expect applause
He noblest lives and noblest dies
Who makes and keeps his self-made laws.
                                   Sir Richard Burton
The man mindful of his reputation
Does not reveal his sadness.
         anonymous early Anglo-Saxon
                                      author
If we are so desperately dependent on our connection to other
human beings, why are we plagued with the peculiar notion that we
should be detached, aloof, dignified and independent?  Why does the
modern ideal of self-sufficiency appeal to us so strongly?
The theme of self-sufficiency crops up in pop psychology with
nagging consistency.  Marilyn Machlowitz, author of a 1985 book
called The Whiz Kids, for example, profiled entrepreneurs who became
successful before the age of forty, then criticized them for being
insecure.  Often, Machlowitz said, these young businessmen and
women  don't  feel  worthy  of  their  success.    Implicit  in  her  complaint
was the notion that healthy humans would never be plagued by such
doubts.60
But do the supremely confident and self-contained individuals
you and I are constantly compared to exist?  Apparently not.  Ernle
Bradford, the military historian, portrays both the legendary
Carthaginian general Hannibal and the Roman who defeated him,
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