Kitap 4
15
Those who disclaim merely trifling or obvious distinctions are called affected humbugs, and are decidedly contemptible; and sometimes such mock humility seems to be really boastfulness, like the dress of the Spartans,Aristotle regards the cheapness and simplicity of the Spartans’ dress as an affectation; or perhaps the reference is to Laconizers at Athens who affected Spartan manners. for extreme negligence in dress, as well as excessive attention to it, has a touch of ostentation.
16
But a moderate use of self-depreciation in matters not too commonplace and obvious has a not ungraceful air.
17
The boaster seems to be the opposite of the sincere man, because Boastfulness is worse than Self-depreciation.
1
But life also includes relaxation, and one form of relaxation is playful conversation. Here, too, we feel that there is a certain standard of good taste in social behavior, and a certain propriety in the sort of things we say and in our manner of saying them, and also in the sort of things we allow to be said to us; and it will also concern us whether those in whose company we speak or to whom we listen conform to the same rules of propriety.
2
And it is clear that in these matters too it is possible either to exceed or to fall short of the mean.
