"Persecution mania is always rooted in a too exaggerated conception of our own merits." [page 92] Russell gives several hypothetical examples, such as: "Another not uncommon victim of persecution mania is a certain type of philanthropist, who is always doing good to people against their will, and is amazed and horrified that they display no gratitude." [page 93]
The chapter culminates in four maxims for detecting and avoiding persecution
mania.
1. Remember that your motives are not always
as altruistic as they seem to yourself. "People who wish to have a
high opinion of their own moral excellence have ... to persuade themselves
that they have achieved a degree of unselfishness that it is very unlikely
that they have achieved." [page 96]
2. Don't overestimate your own merits. "The
playwright whose plays never succeed should consider calmly the hypothesis
that they are bad plays. ... It is true that there are in human history
cases of unrecognized merit, but they are far less numerous than the cases
of recognized demerit." [page 96] "If you find that others do not rate
your abilities as highly as you do yourself, do not be too sure that it
is they who are mistaken. If you allow yourself to think this, you may
easily fall into the belief that there is a conspiracy to prevent the recognition
of your merit, and this belief is pretty sure to be the source of an unhappy
life." [page 97]
3. Don't expect others to take as much interest
in you as you do yourself. "Very often the conduct that people complain
of in others is not more than the healthy reaction of natural egoism against
the grasping rapacity of a person whose ego extends beyond its proper limits."
[page 98]
4. Don't imagine that most people give enough
thought to you to have any desire to persecute you. "The insane victim
of persecution mania imagines that all sorts of people who, in fact, have
their own avocations and interests, are occupied morning, noon, and night
in an endeavor to work a mischief to the poor lunatic. In like manner,
the comparatively sane victim of persecution mania sees in all kinds of
actions a reference to himself which does not, in fact, exist." [page 98]
Keeping these four maxims in mind might be deflating to the ego in the short term, but "No satisfaction based upon self-deception is solid, and however unpleasant the truth may be, it is better to face it once for all, to get used to it, and to proceed to build your life in accordance with it." [page 99]