You know what I mean? That urge to be in the public eye

Written in large letters on the wall of my old school building, we could read Gottfried Keller’s quote every day: “Everything great and noble is simple in nature.” For me today, it’s something like a critical counterpoint to “Do good and talk about it.” Those who do good may—and should—rejoice in it and talk about it as well. Whether they must do so in every case is another question. More than a few preachers of salvation would have been better off keeping quiet. After all, public relations done with a sledgehammer rarely goes over well. The glue on street posters dries up quickly, and other unconventional campaigns lose momentum just as fast. Even bragging about one’s own athletic achievements fades quickly when success fails to materialize. Anyone who whines after a defeat and looks for excuses has lost twice over. And those who believe that the media response to their actions in Switzerland is too modest often seek fulfillment abroad. For example, reports on beautiful, self-built model airplanes apparently only gain attention once they’ve appeared in German magazines. I’ll admit it: Communicating personal successes to the public is arguably one of the more difficult tasks in our lives. Striking a balance between overly boastful honesty and understatement requires objectivity and magnanimity. Many have had to endure naivety in the form of a scornful boomerang. The demands placed on public appearances by politicians and senior officials should not be underestimated, depending on the occasion. Speeches can quickly turn into boring drivel. Even more foolish is the dissemination of trivial to embarrassing nonsense on Facebook. I believe that such activities very quickly descend into ridicule, and in the long run, their authors are taken only half-seriously. Who cares about the brand of beer I treated myself to in Reykjavík? The world is full of such useless and meaningless content. All my filters fall short. Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) recommended a good remedy for this: “Go your own way and let people talk.” ■

Emil Giezendanner

redaktion@modellflugsport.ch