He farts FRANKINCENSE

Meaning & Analysis

He passes gas (farts) and claims it smells like frankincense; in other words, he regards even his most base acts as admirable or pleasant.

Insights

Self-Deception

Describes those who are so self-satisfied or egotistical that they view their own faults, vices, or follies as virtues or admirable traits.

Vanity and Conceit

Highlights extreme vanity, where someone is convinced of their own excellence to the point of being blind to their own failings.

Delusional Self-Regard

Suggests that self-love can warp perception so thoroughly that even one’s most obvious shortcomings are interpreted as strengths.

Historical Symbolism

Frankincense, prized for its sweet aroma and ceremonial use, stands in stark contrast to the crudeness of a fart—intensifying the irony and underlining the absurdity of self-delusion.

Cultural Resonance

The proverb is ancient, with Greek and Latin equivalents ('Stercus cuique suum bene olet'—everyone thinks his own dung smells sweet). Its cross-cultural presence points to a universal human tendency toward self-justification and ego.

Psychological Insight

Exposes a basic psychological mechanism: the tendency to rationalize or glorify one’s own behaviors, however unworthy, while remaining oblivious to or dismissive of one’s flaws.

Rhetorical Devices

Irony

The extreme incongruity between the act (farting) and the fragrance (frankincense) creates sharp, memorable irony, driving home the point about self-deception.

Hyperbole

Exaggerates the degree of self-delusion for comic and critical effect, making the lesson both amusing and cutting.

Contrast

Juxtaposes the vulgar with the sacred to highlight the absurdity of egotism and the blindness of self-love.

vanityselfdeceptionironyegopsychologyfolklore

Analyzed with gpt-4.1 on July 12, 2025

Transcription

Quotations

Fart frankincence, whatsoeuer he doth he thinks it is excellent.

— 1616, WITHALS, p. 574

— 1639, CL., s.v. Philautia, p. 255

I must tell you though it were in the Church, I could not fart frankinsence.

— 1659, BURNELL, Plutus, III, p. 19

*This is an ancient Greek Proverb . . Self-love makes even a mans vices, infirmities and imperfections to please him.

— 1670, RAY, p. 174

— 1672, WALK., 21, p. 51

To fart Frankincense. *Stercus cuique suum bene olet. Ce Proverbe se dit des Personnes, qui sont tellement entêtées de leur Merite, qu'elles prennent leurs Vices pour des Vertus.

— 1687, MIEGE, s.v. Fart

Cross References

F65 Everyone thinks his own fart smells sweet.

Related Proverbs

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