Have you ever been surprised to hear your voice on a tape recording? Have you ever been dissatisfied with a picture of yourself? Often our opinions of other people are similar to that snapshot or tape recording of ourselves we're dissatisfied with. Our impression of others frequently catches only an angle or a particular light. And this may bear little relation to an individual's innermost life, his or her own deepest hopes and struggles.
We can get some insight into just how wildly varied and inaccurate personal estimates can be from looking back at a historical figure. Take a former president of the United States or a key political leader of another country. Look at the incredibly different views of the person held with utter conviction by various colleagues. From this jumble of impressions one can't help concluding that what people were seeing was largely their own thought about the person, not the person himself.
A personal assessment is a poor, vague guide to knowing our fellowman. Mary Baker Eddy writes: "I earnestly advise all Christian Scientists to remove from their observation or study the personal sense of any one, and not to dwell in thought upon their own or others' corporeality, either as good or evil.
