5 ideas
Presumption consists both in rating ourselves too high and in rating others too low. Correcting self-inflation alone is not enough, because contempt for others' merit is the same distortion of judgment pointed outward.
Because he cannot hold a long plan or a quoted source in mind, he writes in short loose runs that follow whatever occurs to him in the moment. The digressive, unplanned form does not fail to reach order. It is a method built to fit a mind that cannot keep order, and it turns the weakness into a recognizable voice.
People readily admit to a bad memory, weak body, or small fortune, but almost no one thinks he is short of judgment. The faculty we use to assess ourselves is the one faculty we cannot assess from outside, so everyone feels they have received enough of it.
Look inward and list your faults concretely: body, memory, practical incompetence, laziness. Then report them without inflating or excusing them. Error is permitted, but self-deception is not: saying foolish things is acceptable as long as you know they are foolish.
He says his own writings please him little. He can imagine a finer form than he can produce, and the gap between the idea in his mind and his execution on the page never closes. Discontent with one's work is presented as a symptom of clear judgment rather than a failure of confidence.