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“Humility is the opposite value to the anti-value of pride.

It is related to the acceptance of our

defects, weaknesses and limitations.”

Popular definition.

Political campaigns at all sites and levels are phenomena conducive to unleashing true vanity fairs. Driving on the roads of Mexico at this time is risky, because at any corner a candidate can be run over (as the commonplace says); It is easy to recognize them by what Lázaro Cárdenas called “El modito”; that is, the way of conducting himself before his presumed voters and detractors, as the owner of exquisite wisdom, infallibility and everything that is needed to know about science and culture in this world that does not deserve them.

I say the above knowingly: life and my Party gave me the opportunity to be a candidate three times and therefore, I know what it feels like; I know what I’m talking about, “whatever it was.”

The journalist Gloria Fuentes said, in the pages of the magazine Siempre, a few yesterdays ago (I quote from memory): it is really difficult to maintain the consciousness of humility; For example, when a small group of people approaches you to recognize the excellence of some intervention (conference, speech, article…); Wanting to minimize the matter, you murmur to yourself: “These people are chattering at me,” but when, by virtue of different circumstances, you acquire a popularly elected position and the banners with your name and your photograph are seen, disfiguring the streets, you listen to the cheers directed at you and the interventions of the speakers who recognize or invent your virtues; Even so, if you do not want to fall into the aforementioned fair, you think to yourself: “well, possibly there is something to that,” and you are grateful; but now the little bug of vanity and arrogance (Piripituche?) is beginning to wake up from its lethargy and put some grimaces on your face, which slowly transform it into the monster contrary to the humility that you necessarily proclaim; not always credible, because your words are not congruent with your attitude.

The journalist herself imagines the candidates for deputies, senators, governors and presidents of the Republic, whose groups of sycophants multiply at every moment, of course, with the interest of getting a job or simply showing off as “your friends.” Truly, it is very difficult to maintain sincere meekness; This can take refuge in the speech or in the studied attitude, but deep down, there is no candidate who is not arrogant and vain; nor is there a humble person who has not gone through both stages before. Some cannot overcome them.

The history of the world is full of biographies in various senses: the same great predators have passed into its pages; superb and cruel characters, but humble to a superlative degree. As examples of the former, we can cite Genghis Khan, Attila (“Where my horse steps, the grass does not grow again”), Alexander the Great, several Roman emperors; the monsters that plagued Europe during the world wars: Hitler, Mussolini, Hirohito and the locals Miguel Hidalgo, Francisco Villa, Rodolfo Fierro, Álvaro Obregón and others. On the other hand, as true paradigms, we can cite Socrates of Athens, Jesus of Nazareth, Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), Teresa of Calcutta and some Stoics such as Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Diogenes “The Cynic”…

In this order of ideas, it is always interesting to discern whether the humble are born or made, if everyone, to reach that state of grace, has to go through a maelstrom of presumptions, envy and other entities of the underworld.

Without aspiring to so much, I consider, from experience, that the most arrogant of the arrogant can become the worst critic of their stigma, because I understand that it is very easy to be humble when you have power and money, although generally, the sum of those two factors leads to presumption and arrogance. My friend Gonzalo Rodríguez once told me, “I only know two types of arrogant people: the very rich and the very intelligent.” What do you think?

It is said that there are several types of humility, namely: intellectual, he is humble who knows himself to have great wisdom and solid knowledge in some branch of knowledge and yet keeps his mind open to new knowledge, wherever it comes from.

Culturally, it is truly difficult to achieve, but precisely the awareness of one’s own self-limitation is what allows a scholar to listen to the most neophyte in the subjects he masters and accept new and/or different knowledge with simplicity.

Intergenerational, there is no phenomenon more difficult for the survival of certain values ​​than the transition of generations; The elderly feel irreplaceable and have the last word, when it comes to the adventure of living, and the young demand their presence and participation in the construction of a world that they know is theirs. To the best of my knowledge, both have great successes and multiple errors.

As a consequence of all of the above, I read a series of recommendations to achieve authentic humility: admit a mistake; offer apologies; recognize mistakes; admit constructive criticism; know how to ask for help; respect all opinions; Don’t compare yourself to anyone. In terms of creativity: always give credit to the true authors of an idea; know how to lose; do not brag; be thankful; know how to listen.

In reality, as Master Jaime Flores Zúñiga (RIP) said, “Authentic humility is seen in a bush of wheat that, when it is in full fruition, lowers its head to kiss the earth.”