“We should live our lives as if everyone could see us, as if the most secret corners of our soul were open to the sight of others…All divine and human learning can be summarized in one truth—that we are members of one big body.

Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring two pence how often it has been told before), you will, n

In Philippians 2:2–3, Paul says bluntly that Christians should “in humility consider others better than [them]selves.” Notice that he doesn’t say that we should unrealistically try to believe that all others are better than us in every way. That would be nonsense. Rather, we should consider and count the interests of others as more important than o