One of my pet hates is people re-Tweeting praise, I loathe it

Hear, O seeker of truth, the sharp words of Douglas Henshall, who declared: “One of my pet hates is people re-Tweeting praise, I loathe it more than anything else in the world.” Though this saying arises from the age of digital tongues and fleeting messages, it carries within it a wisdom as old as time: that vanity is a poison, and to trumpet one’s own glory is to show the smallness of the soul. For praise is a gift meant to be received with humility, not paraded with arrogance.

The act of re-Tweeting praise is but a modern form of what the ancients called self-glorification. It is the act of holding up the mirror not to truth, but to one’s own reflection, and asking others to admire it. Such displays do not enlarge the spirit, but diminish it, for they reveal hunger not for growth or honor, but for validation. The wise man does not shout his virtues to the crowd; he allows his deeds to speak for themselves. The foolish man, however, proclaims his praise, forgetting that those who seek glory too eagerly often invite scorn.

The ancients left warnings against such behavior. The Oracle of Delphi inscribed, “Know thyself,” and in that knowing was the reminder to temper pride with humility. Consider the tale of Alcibiades, the proud Athenian general who gloried in his own fame, parading himself before the people as if he were greater than Athens itself. His arrogance won him followers for a time, but his vanity brought ruin upon himself and his city. His life was a living example of the danger of exalting oneself too loudly.

Contrast this with Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome, who wrote his Meditations not to boast, but to remind himself daily of humility and discipline. Though he was the most powerful man of his age, he scorned the hunger for empty applause, knowing it was fleeting. He sought not to re-tweet praise, but to master himself. His greatness endures not because he boasted of it, but because he lived it in silence and strength.

O listener, the lesson here is piercing: praise is not a jewel to be worn ostentatiously, but a seed to be planted quietly. When others honor you, take it as encouragement to walk further in the path of virtue, not as license to rest upon it or flaunt it. The true worth of a man or woman is not in how loudly they display the compliments of others, but in how consistently they live so as to deserve them.

Practical action follows: when praise comes your way, accept it with gratitude, but do not echo it to the world. Instead, let your next action, your next work, your next word of kindness be the continuation of that praise. And when you encounter vanity in others, do not despise them harshly, but remember that the hunger for attention is born of insecurity. Offer instead an example of humility, showing that strength does not require boasting.

Thus I say to you: heed the admonition of Douglas Henshall. Do not fall into the vanity of re-Tweeting praise, whether with your words, your actions, or your heart’s secret boasting. For true greatness does not shout—it shines. And the man who loathes vanity and clings to humility will in the end receive not the fleeting echo of applause, but the lasting honor of respect.