    24

    Even Heroes Are Insecure

    From none but self expect applause

    He noblest lives and noblest dies

    Who makes and keeps his self-made laws.

                                       Sir Richard Burton

    The man mindful of his reputation

    Does not reveal his sadness.

             anonymous early Anglo-Saxon

                                          author

    If we are so desperately dependent on our connection to other

    human beings, why are we plagued with the peculiar notion that we

    should be detached, aloof, dignified and independent?  Why does the

    modern ideal of self-sufficiency appeal to us so strongly?

    The theme of self-sufficiency crops up in pop psychology with

    nagging consistency.  Marilyn Machlowitz, author of a 1985 book

    called The Whiz Kids, for example, profiled entrepreneurs who became

    successful before the age of forty, then criticized them for being

    insecure.  Often, Machlowitz said, these young businessmen and

    women  don't  feel  worthy  of  their  success.    Implicit  in  her  complaint

    was the notion that healthy humans would never be plagued by such

    doubts.60

    But do the supremely confident and self-contained individuals

    you and I are constantly compared to exist?  Apparently not.  Ernle

    Bradford, the military historian, portrays both the legendary

    Carthaginian general Hannibal and the Roman who defeated him,

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