[Tax-chick]

William IV, "Sailor Bill," was ridiculed by the Regency elite for being a domesticated bore. I always liked him. (His older brother, George IV, was the beau ideal run amok.)

I thought this was the most telling line: It was instead an existential, almost religious, modesty, an awareness that he was far from being all-important.

There are people who know they are not the center of the universe, and there are people who think they are. The latter are awful to be around, and absolutely catastrophic in large groups.

[miss marmelstein]

I love your phrase: beau ideal run amok. So funny!

[Cronos]

There are people who know they are not the center of the universe, and there are people who think they are. The latter are awful to be around, and absolutely catastrophic in large groups.

Good point. And that is true not only for the English.

I think our societies emphasis that "everyone wins" has a big drawback -- everything thinks it should be all about them.. There is no sense of "something bigger than me" -- whether it be religion or a political ideology or whatever...