Is there any piece of literature, folklore, religious verse that explains this:
If it helps, I’m trying to explain one of the things that frustrates me the most about America. I see it as a very good place. I know the good things Americans have done around the world, but that doesn’t mean I should overlook the ill it has done. Yet, there is a very large number of people who see any such honesty as unpatriotic. These same people tend to talk about the things “we” did to help “them” in Europe in WWII, in Asia after the tsunami, in Iraq to get rid of Saddam, or any other historical/ongoing events, and how could they turn against us after all the good we did.
I don’t believe that a great nation constantly touts its goodness. I believe that we should have confidence that the world will see for themselves the good we do, if we are honest with ourselves about righting what we did wrong.
**NOTE: I do not want this to turn into a political debate, because that’s not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for references. **
I understand this is vague, but I’d appreciate any help I can get.
*There could be a third man, who, no matter the great things he achieves can never see past his faults.
If I understand what you’re getting at, it reminds me of something out of classic tragedy (Shakespeare maybe?): the great leader or king whose fatal flaw is that he can’t accept criticism or admit imperfection? But I’m having trouble coming up with a specific story or character.
There is Luke 18:9-14. It talks about, even with the good things he has done, the attitude of the Pharisee ruins those things in the eyes of God.
*9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about[a] himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."*
Well, there’s Lear, who compounds his original mistake in misunderstanding Cordelia’s true affection, by refusing to listen to wise counsel from Kent, who tries to show Lear his error. But I don’t think that matches what the OP is looking for?
I’m going to have to think a little more about whether it’s what you’re looking for, but there are pieces of Le Petit Prince (“The Little Prince”) by Antoine de St Exupéry that might fit. I only have the French version, so I’ll quote it then translate it in my own words for you.
In fact, the collection of meetings the Prince has with the people on the planets - the king, the drinker, the vain man, the business man, the lamp lighter, the geographer, the fox, the people on earth and even St Exupéry himself - might represent some of what you want to say. St Exupéry’s description of the astronomer, who no one believed because he wore funny clothes, has an element of your moral in it, as does his opinion on “grown ups” and what they consider to be important.
I guess none of it is quite right… regardless, it’s a beautiful book, and I recommend that you read it anyways, even if you’ve read it before!
