It might then seem that I should praise those who are not
easily excellent, since I am forbidden to praise those who are. And
something like this seems actually approved. If a boy on the street,
who has been trained hardly to distinguish truth from lies, some day
stumbles into a bit of truth, I may justly praise him. "Splendid
fellow! No word of falsehood there!" But when I see the father of his
country bearing his little hatchet, praise is unfit; for George
Washington cannot tell a lie.
Absurd as this conclusion appears, I believe it states our soundest
moral judgment; for praise never escapes an element of disparagement.
It implies that the unexpected has happened. If I praise a man for
learning, it is because I had supposed him ignorant; if for helping
the unfortunate, I hint that I did not anticipate that he would regard
any but himself. Wherever praise appears, we cannot evade the
suggestion that excellence is a matter of surprise. And as nobody
likes to be thought ill-adapted to excellence, praise may rightly be
resented.
It is true, there is a group of cases where praise seems differently
employed. We can praise those whom we recognize as high and lifted up.
"Sing praises unto the Lord, sing praises," the Psalmist says. And our
hearts respond. We feel it altogether appropriate.
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