Greeks and Romans viewed moderation and seld-restraint as an important ideal.  Our own barbarian ancestors were cut from a different cloth from the.  Celts, Germans, and Slaves were boasters who gloried in victory and were disconsolate in defeat.  For them, self-restraint meant passing up an opportunity to get drunk or have a good time pillaging and raping.  But under the influences exerted by Roman law, the Church, and classical  literature, the upper classes developed rules of conduct that forbade mistreatment of women, children, and the poor, and encouraged an air of self-possession.  As time went on the long forgotten code of the...

Overgrown Children The exaggerated display of emotions is not limited to children.  Adults who throw temper tantrums are no longer despised, as they once were.  They are often celebrated for their spontaneity or, in the case of successful athletes, adored for getting away with doing as they please.  There was a time when tennis was a gentleman’s game, when the loser congratulated his victorious player and did not blame  the umpires.  Even in the 1970’s, when crybabies like Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe were staging their amateur theatricals on the court, Arthur Ashe was still acting like a grownup, on...