Read "The Defendant" by G.K. Chesterton online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has to-day all the / exhilaration of a vice. Moral truisms have been so much disputed that / they have begun to sparkle like so many brilliant paradoxes. And / especially (in this age of egoistic idealism) there is about one who / defends humility something inexpressibly rakish.
It is no part of my intention to defend humility on practical grounds. / Practical grounds are uninteresting, and, moreover, on practical grounds / the case for humility is overwhelming. We all know that the 'divine / glory of the ego' is socially a great nuisance; we all do actually value / our friends for modesty, freshness, and simplicity of heart. Whatever / may be the reason, we all do warmly respect humility -- in other people.