22-01-2015, 04:59 PM
Magda Hassan Wrote:David Guyatt Wrote:That's because they are crooks -- and need the respectability an honour bestows upon them to psychologically cleanse their own shadow when they look in the mirror, I suppose.
There is no fig leaf or gong big enough to cover their crimes and shame.
I agree, from the perspective of the outside objective observer, but a great many men have an amazing capacity for lying to themselves. It's much the same thing as getting an honour from the Pope that is treated by crooked men as a benediction from God. Complete balls, of course, but they often believe it - or will themselves to.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14