The Devil’s Dictionary by Abrose Bierce

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Immodest
adj. Having a strong sense of one’s own merit, coupled with a feeble conception of worth in others.
There was once a man in Ispahan Ever and ever so long ago, And he had a head, the phrenologists said, That fitted him for a show.
For his modesty’s bump was so large a lump (Nature, they said, had taken a freak) That its summit stood far above the wood Of his hair, like a mountain peak.
So modest a man in all Ispahan, Over and over again they swore — So humble and meek, you would vainly seek; None ever was found before.
Meantime the hump of that awful bump Into the heavens contrived to get To so great a height that they called the wight The man with the minaret.
There wasn’t a man in all Ispahan Prouder, or louder in praise of his chump: With a tireless tongue and a brazen lung He bragged of that beautiful bump
Till the Shah in a rage sent a trusty page Bearing a sack and a bow-string too, And that gentle child explained as he smiled: “A little present for you.”
The saddest man in all Ispahan, Sniffed at the gift, yet accepted the same. “If I’d lived,” said he, “my humility Had given me deathless fame!”
Sukker Uffro
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