How to Read “The parson forgets that he ever was clerk”
The parson forgets that he ever was clerk
[PAR-sun for-GETS that he EV-er was klark]
A “parson” is a church minister. A “clerk” was their assistant.
Meaning of “The parson forgets that he ever was clerk”
Simply put, this proverb means that people who gain power or status often forget where they came from.
The literal words paint a picture from old church life. A clerk was a low-ranking church assistant who helped the parson. The parson was the main minister with higher status and respect. When a clerk got promoted to parson, he might act like he never held that humble job. He could become proud and look down on current clerks.
This happens everywhere in modern life, not just in churches. Someone gets promoted at work and suddenly treats their old coworkers differently. A person who becomes wealthy might forget they once struggled with money. Students who become teachers sometimes lose patience with learning difficulties they once had themselves. The proverb captures how success can make people lose touch with their past struggles.
What makes this saying powerful is how common this behavior really is. Most people can think of someone who changed after getting ahead in life. The wisdom reminds us that forgetting our humble beginnings often makes us less kind and understanding. It suggests that remembering where we started keeps us grounded and helps us treat others better.
Origin and Etymology
The exact origin of this proverb is unknown, but it reflects the church structure of medieval England. During this time, many sayings emerged from religious life because the church played a central role in daily society. People understood the clear hierarchy between clerks and parsons, making this comparison meaningful to everyone.
In medieval churches, clerks performed basic duties like copying manuscripts, assisting with services, and handling simple administrative tasks. Becoming a parson meant gaining significant social status, income, and respect in the community. This dramatic change in position created perfect conditions for the kind of behavior the proverb describes. The church setting made the contrast between humble beginnings and elevated status very visible to ordinary people.
The saying likely spread through oral tradition as people observed this pattern repeatedly. Similar proverbs about forgetting humble origins exist in many languages, suggesting this human tendency was noticed across different cultures. The specific church reference helped the saying stick in English-speaking communities where everyone understood the religious hierarchy. Over time, people began applying it to any situation where success led to arrogance or forgetfulness about past struggles.
Interesting Facts
The word “parson” comes from the Latin “persona,” meaning “person of the church.” This emphasized the parson’s role as the official representative of the parish. The word “clerk” originally meant any educated person who could read and write, since literacy was rare and often connected to church service. In medieval times, being a clerk was actually a respected position because it required education, even though it ranked below a parson in church hierarchy.
Usage Examples
- Employee to coworker: “Ever since her promotion to manager, she acts like she never struggled with these same deadlines – the parson forgets that he ever was clerk.”
- Veteran teacher to colleague: “He’s criticizing new teachers for classroom management issues he had himself just two years ago – the parson forgets that he ever was clerk.”
Universal Wisdom
This proverb reveals a fundamental tension in human psychology between memory and identity. When people experience significant improvements in their circumstances, they face an unconscious choice about how to integrate their past with their present. The mind naturally wants to see current success as deserved and permanent, which can make previous struggles feel distant or even embarrassing.
From an evolutionary perspective, this forgetting might have served a protective function. Dwelling too much on past hardships could undermine confidence needed for leadership roles. However, this same mechanism that helps people embrace new status also disconnects them from the empathy and humility that made their rise possible. The parson who forgets his clerk days loses touch with the patience and service that likely helped him advance in the first place.
The deeper wisdom here touches on how success changes not just circumstances but self-perception. People who climb social or professional ladders often reconstruct their personal narratives to match their new positions. They begin to see their current status as natural rather than earned through struggle and help from others. This psychological shift explains why the proverb focuses on forgetting rather than simple arrogance. The forgetting is genuine because remembering humble origins can feel incompatible with maintaining authority and confidence in elevated roles.
When AI Hears This
Organizations work like memory erasers that delete shared experiences between levels. The parson cannot remember being a clerk because his new role rewrites how he sees the world. His brain now sorts people into completely separate categories. The institution teaches him that parsons and clerks are different types of humans, not the same person at different times.
This memory deletion happens because hierarchies need people to believe positions are natural and permanent. If the parson remembered struggling as a clerk, he might treat current clerks as equals. The system prevents this by making his old role feel like someone else’s life. His mind protects the hierarchy by forgetting experiences that would create sympathy across levels.
What fascinates me is how perfectly this serves both individual and group survival needs. The parson gains confidence and authority by forgetting his humble past. Meanwhile, the organization stays stable because leaders don’t constantly question the system. This “forgetting” creates the psychological distance needed for hierarchies to function. It turns potentially disruptive empathy into smooth institutional operations.
Lessons for Today
Living with awareness of this pattern requires honest self-reflection about how success affects memory and behavior. The challenge lies not in avoiding advancement but in maintaining connection to earlier experiences and the people who helped along the way. This means regularly asking whether current attitudes toward others reflect genuine wisdom or simply the comfort of higher status.
In relationships and work environments, this wisdom suggests paying attention to how people treat those in positions they once held themselves. A manager who dismisses entry-level concerns may have forgotten their own early confusion and mistakes. A wealthy person who judges financial struggles harshly might have lost touch with their own past worries about money. Recognizing this pattern in others builds understanding, while watching for it in ourselves prevents the isolation that comes with forgetting our roots.
The most practical application involves deliberately maintaining connections to earlier versions of ourselves and the communities that supported our growth. This might mean staying involved with people from previous life stages, volunteering in areas related to past struggles, or simply taking time to remember specific moments of difficulty and uncertainty. The goal is not to diminish current achievements but to keep them in perspective. When we remember being the clerk, we can be parsons who actually deserve the respect that comes with the position.
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