day no. 15,892: rank hypocrisy

"It is hard to imagine a more dismal ending for a career than that of the man who aspires to rank, without having any honest concept of its proportionate moral responsibilities, particularly when the lives of others are at stake." -- The Armed Forces Officer, U.S. Department of Defense (1950)

It is bad enough for a man to overestimate himself and find himself looking up at the great heights from which he imagined he resided; but how much worse is it for that same man to toss not only himself, but his loved ones, over the cliff of arrogant inflation?

Authority necessitates responsibility. If one rises in rank without a corresponding rise in character, everyone suffers for it. It ends tragically for everybody. No one enjoys the ride or the landing. The denouement is a disaster.

You cannot be a moral authority without being moral, a civil authority without being civil, a governing authority without being self-governed, a spiritual authority without being spiritual, a parental authority without being parental.