There is a difference between self-deprecation and facing the reality of what and who you are. One makes a man lose force, while the other allows him to save what force he has, and to even grow it beyond the usual limits. His fallibility, imperfections, and weaknesses are often seen in some small, trivial, ways but missed completely in far more revealing forms. His buffers to self-justify his intentions and actions, like a swinging pendulum of inner propaganda, ensures that his self-image of himself maintains some semblance, however false, of both integrity and solidarity.

Alternatively, and without an inkling of judgment, a man can look upon himself as a character in a book, hitherto unconscious of that fact. He can heat the glue that binds him to this woven character, and he can begin to approach himself inside in a fashion that allows a good measure of freedom to take flight. The good in all of this is that this separation of identity allows for a more objective assessment of everything to become a grounded, holistic and sane lens from which to view the world. If he is in the way of a matter, where he himself is an obstacle to a greater aim or goal, he can more readily remove himself from the equation for the sake of higher things.