Sublime

Without respect for and enjoyment in who I am, however, I have very little to give. I see other people essentially as sources of approval or disapproval, not as people in their own right.

self-esteem as the ultimate ground of consciousness and therefore the ultimate ground of our being.

Nathaniel Branden’s lengthy work Six Pillars of Self-Esteem

A free society cannot be maintained without an ethics of rational self-interest. Neither can it be maintained except by men and women who have achieved a healthy level of self-esteem. And a healthy level of self-esteem cannot be maintained without a willingness to assert—and, if necessary, fight for—our right to exist. It is on this point that issu

A commitment to awareness—the will to understand—is the central pillar of positive self-esteem.

If I were more honest about expressing my thoughts and opinions—

To honor the self is to be willing to think independently, to live by our own mind, and to have the courage of our own perceptions and judgments.