This is so true and it resonated with me. My mother, in her misguided attempt to teach me humility, always told me to remember that there was someone smarter, prettier, better around the corner. No matter the compliment I received, I was reminded. The translation in my young mind was I was stupid, ugly and just not good at anything. I'm 50 and I've only recently begun to shed the damage to my self esteem that her words caused.