You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
In our culture, and perhaps in most, it is remarkable how many expressions and attitudes concerning such subjects as ambition, success, progress, and the like, are derived from high-low imagery. It has often been pointed out that our thinking is dominated by the idea of a linear movement forward or backward, closely connected with our concept of time; but if we discuss any line of advance at length—for example, the course of any person through life—we cannot avoid speaking also in terms of altitude.
In the beginning one is high or low-born or at some level in between. Then one has more or less high hopes, stakes, aims, etc., which are either reached—after surmounting various obstacles—or of which one falls short. One may start “at the bottom” and work up “to the top,” and the climb up the ladder of success is marked by many ups and downs. One's short comings are noted, and people speak of the acme or pinnacle of one's career. One may be considered a high flyer or high-flown, a high rider, etc. And one's final position or level or stature in society and the world is certain to be described in terms of height.
Before hunting possible reasons for the injection of height imagery into our word-pictures of personal achievement, it may be well to consider other thought categories which make abundant use of it. A moment's reflection reveals our immediate self-concepts as comprising one of these