The 128 most classic philosophical essays in the world

Chapter 48 Reputation
[Germany] Schopenhauer

A proper comparison, therefore, of a person's worth in our own eyes with his worth in the eyes of others, contributes to our happiness.

Because of the peculiar weakness of human nature, we often pay too much attention to what others think of us; in fact, it only takes a little reflection to know that other people's opinions have no influence on our attainable happiness.

So I understand why everyone takes great pleasure in the compliments of others.If you hit a cat, its hair will stand on end; if you compliment him on something he is proud of, even if the compliment is an obvious lie, he will still welcome it.

As long as others appreciate him, he can still be at ease even if he has bad luck and little hope of happiness; on the contrary, when a person's feelings and self-esteem are hurt by nature, status, or environment, when he is indifferent, belittled and ignored , everyone will inevitably feel distressed, even extremely painful.

If the sense of honor is based on the nature of "like praise and hate disparagement", then the sense of honor can replace the moral law and benefit the public welfare.It is a pity that the influence of honor on such elements of happiness as peace of mind and independence is not beneficial but harmful.So from the point of view of happiness, we should stop the spread of weakness.

Self-properly and correctly considering and weighing the relative value of certain interests, thereby alleviating the high sensitivity to the opinions of others.Flattering or not, such opinions cause pain because they are emotional.If this is not done, a man becomes a slave to what others think as he pleases—it is easy to hurt and appease a man who is greedy for praise.

A proper comparison, therefore, of a person's worth in our own eyes with his worth in the eyes of others, contributes to our happiness.What creates the value in the eyes of others is the consciousness of others; it is our image in the eyes of others and our joint thoughts about this image.This value has no direct effect on our being itself, but it has an indirect and moderate effect on our being, because the behavior of others towards us depends on it.However, when this value in the eyes of others prompts us to modify "the self in our own mind", its impact becomes direct.Apart from this, the consciousness of other people is indifferent to us; especially when we realize how ignorant and superficial the minds of the masses are, how narrow-minded their views are, how base their sentiments, how partial their opinions, how erroneous they are. For a long time, what other people think of us is even less important.

His companions, we know from life experience that there is such a person who will always slander in front of others, as long as he does not need to be afraid of the other party and believes that the other party will not hear the words of slander, he will try his best to slander.Then we really don't care what other people think.As long as we have the opportunity to recognize how many great men in ancient and modern times have been despised by fools, we will know that caring about others is too much respect for others.

Heart mark notes
The desire for fame is the instinct of the soul.A person's life revolves around different reputations, competing for different reputations, and even lowering the orientation of life in the competition.In fact, reputation is but a bubble in the stream of life, but some people are controlled by it throughout their lives.

Those reputations that have passed away will disappear in people's memory in a blink of an eye. The real reputation should be like a floating cloud to me, and it has nothing to do with vanity or face.A true reputation needs to be maintained with noble sentiments, elegant behaviors, and humble attitudes.The real reputation is the externalization of the quality of life formed by personality, virtue, and character. It cannot be pursued, won, packaged, concealed, or damaged.

(End of this chapter)