People who always smile, are nice, and are praised by everyone are often, upon closer inspection, nothing more than hypocrites. The reason their hypocrisy can deceive so many people so perfectly lies, first, in their complete lack of interest in other people’s lives.
People who sometimes speak heatedly or with worried expressions can be seen as having at least a shred of interest in the lives of others. It’s because they empathize and are concerned that they might act that way.
But hypocrites feel that whether others do well or poorly has nothing to do with their own lives. That’s why they can always smile. They brighten the atmosphere with smiling faces and, while spouting empty talk about morality and justice, they invariably slip in tales of their own supposed good deeds.
By doing so, the listener mistakenly thinks, “Ah, unlike me, who has mood swings a dozen times a day, this person is always kind, relaxed, and a great, wonderful person.”
Even if someone interrupts them mid-conversation with a complaint, they know how to respond softly and pleasantly, with their characteristic smile, as if soothing a child.
All of this is possible because they have absolutely no interest in the other person’s life. This can be understood by trying the same conversation with a beloved family member or partner and comparing the reactions.
But the human heart is fickle, and some people even come to think that hypocrites who always smile are better than parents who constantly express concern.
The second secret of hypocrites lies in the evil actions they commit where no one is watching.
It’s the same principle as when a spouse or partner suddenly becomes kind, you can roughly guess that they’ve been up to something somewhere.
The more someone does bad things in secret, the more perfectly they can play the role of a completely good person in front of others. Perhaps their unconscious is worried that if they don’t do so, the things they secretly committed might be discovered.
In fact, the stricter someone is with themselves, the less they can boast in front of others. No matter how hard they try to live without sinning, they are not completely satisfied with themselves.
While a hypocrite might kill someone behind the scenes and then create all sorts of non-existent tales of good deeds to act kind, a truly good person, burdened by conscience over a small lie they told a friend yesterday, might say that what they did was nothing and that they are not a good person.
Therefore, the good deeds of good people are always not revealed or downplayed, while the tales of good deeds of hypocrites are manufactured and inflated, overflowing into the world. In the end, the protagonists of the tales of good deeds we know become nothing but hypocrites.
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