Neville's old teacher Ab, who he says would frighten an audience to death, used to say: if anyone stands before you and you think him so important, strip him and let him perform the normal functions of life - and you will turn your back on him. It is given in the middle of the Esau and Jacob teaching, against the importance men attach to what is visible: Jacob commands the world and no one has ever seen him, because he is like his Father, completely invisible.