It is true that beings that live in the jungle have not yet had the same access to materials of such a high or refined quality as civilised human beings have had, and that they therefore have to use coarser or less suitable materials than civilisation's beings do. The art of adornment is just a matter of practice and can be developed just as well within the primitive human being's sphere as within the sphere of the civilised human being, and is therefore not an absolutely reliable characteristic of true civilisation. Civilisation is basically expressive of or characterised by humaneness. Only one's step of humaneness can constitute the criterion for one's step of civilisation. But since the principle of "adorning" or "beautifying oneself" can be used by primitive human beings just as well as by civilised beings, by cannibals as well as by diplomats, by "sinners" as well as by "saints", one will here understand that one, by painting and powdering oneself, having wide or narrow trouser legs, a tight-fitting or sack-like jacket, a particular kind of tie, hat or shoes, jewellery and rings and the like, is expressive only of a principle that one has in common with lower stages of consciousness or lower forms of civilisation. Such gala adornments do not turn a "sinner" into a "saint" or vice versa. A step in civilisation is not something one puts on or takes off like clothes; it is not something that can be put on with a paintbrush and be washed off by raindrops. And here we are at the root of the matter. Here we find the emperor walking around in nothing but his shirt. As long as "vanity", which is the driving motor in "pride", does not exceed its normal standard, which means, the stage where it gives rise only to the essential healthy and hygienic use of one's organism so that it can have the perfect appearance that Nature created it or intended it to have, then vanity is a virtue. Where it exceeds this stage, it is unnatural and exaggerated and has no longer anything to do with real logic. And it is only then that one begins to call it "vanity". Prior to this stage it is to be regarded as a natural drive for self-preservation.