Thinking less of me

If we would look long and hard with a gaze steady and true
You would think less of yourself than I do
Yea I would seem some faults but temper it with virtue
And I would have some doubts but them intersperse with faith
But if I would stare hard in the looking glass and long in the pool of truth
I must think less of me than you do

For to think myself refined lulls me into remaining blunt
Prepping and garnishing the trimmings of propriety
Fretting and fussing to place display my finery
Forgetting that yesterday's blade must be sharpened today to be of use tomorrow

As I marvel at what I know I fail to hear the sound of my ignorance's growth
I teach I teach till I am convinced I know
I apply each principle daily never testing its frailty
Content in what I know, not knowing the wisdom to be found in measuring one's ignorance

So let me rest in my strength and proud in the boast that nothing has bested me
Secure in a foolish truth and not understanding that nothing has tested me
Failing to see that only that which is broken learns to be strong
That it is after the punishment of constant battle that the arm can be held high

So let me think less of myself than you do
So I may press on and push forward to be better than I knew
So my eye will not be too haughty while my goals remain always lofty
I will think less of me than you do
And if I find you to be of any good measure, I will think less of you too