A speck

How do you rank yourself?
Around some people - reading their words - hearing their words - I want to ask.  How do you rank yourself?
I'd be most interested to hear the answer from those who seem most certain that they have life's answers.  I'm most curious about those who "know" so much and are quick to point out how others are not measuring up.
Recently one of those people lamented about a criticism they had faced.  It had clearly shaken him and I mused.  How often I have seen him dish out searing criticism and when he faced it, he was distressed and somewhat dismissive about it.  I believe he ranked himself quite above that.  But he was having trouble processing it because it came from someone he respected.  He could not easily dismiss this person.
There are some people who simply rank themselves above most everyone else.  Having a positive relationship with them is totally dependent upon your accepting that ranking.  If they sense that you do not, they will dismiss you.  If they cannot easily dismiss you, they will seek damage.
I believe that people who rank themselves in such a way and are so protective of their position on the mountaintop, are driven by a deep seeded fear.  There is a lot of Wizard of Oz behavior going on.  Pay no attention to what's behind the curtain and simply listen to the booming voice.
We've all got a little curtain thing going on.
Humility, civility and empathy are things we should be ranking in ourselves.  We can get far too caught up in our own self importance.  Reality is that we are each just a speck of sand.  At best we can create a ripple of good that goes out and carries on.  That's not going to happen if we are focused on self importance.  That's just a ripple inward that satisfies you for a speck of a moment and goes nowhere.
So ripple in or ripple out?  If you are most important - ripple in and make yourself quite happy - for a speck of time.  OR ripple out and watch a multitude of ripples continue.  Rank that.