Then he "celebrated" by starting to take life easy. He
developed a manner of superiority. He acted as if the little foothill he
had climbed was a big mountain. He sunned himself on the top, basking in
complacency because he had risen above his former clerkship.
One day he was called into the manager's office. He came out chop-fallen
and took his personal belongings from the assistant's desk. Another man
was promoted to the place he had failed to fill. He went back to his
clerk's stool and is roosting there today.
[Sidenote: Egotism's Downfall]
I know a salesman who closed so many orders the first time he covered
his territory that he came back to headquarters with an inflated idea of
his importance. He strutted into the president's room and boasted of
what he had done. The delighted head of the business gave him a cigar
and invited him to tell the story. The salesman betrayed such egotism
that his employer was disgusted. The president was plain-spoken. He
warned the successful salesman against getting a "swelled head.
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