Jung isn't merely asking us to be humble about our flaws—he's pointing to something harder: that we cannot recognize darkness in others unless we've already met it in ourselves. When a colleague's selfishness triggers disproportionate rage in us, or we find ourselves oddly fascinated by someone's cruelty, Jung suggests this recognition happens because we've glimpsed those same capacities within our own psyche. The practical difference this makes is profound: instead of confronting someone else's jealousy or rage as though it were alien to us, we approach it with the strange kinship of recognition, which paradoxically allows for both clearer judgment and genuine compassion.