Source identified
“The noble soul has reverence for itself.”
The line connects nobility with an inward standard of dignity rather than dependence on applause, rank, or approval from other people.
Source note: Beyond Good and Evil, section 287, Helen Zimmern translation; capitalization modernized from the source edition.
Source identified
“This above all: to thine own self be true.”
Voice: Fictional character · Polonius
Polonius frames integrity as consistency between inward conviction and outward conduct, although the advice belongs to a fallible fictional counselor.
Source note: Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3; Polonius gives Laertes this advice before Laertes leaves for France.
Source identified
“Otherwise, a man is the slave of what other people are pleased to think.”
Dependence on approval can turn other people’s judgments into a form of control; self-respect requires allowing outside opinion to inform rather than govern one’s sense of worth.
Source note: The Wisdom of Life; the sentence appears in Schopenhauer’s criticism of giving excessive weight to reputation and social opinion.
Source identified
“Remember that thou art a man and do not degrade thyself: this is self-respect.”
Janet treats human dignity as a floor below which humility should not push a person: recognizing weakness does not require degrading oneself or surrendering self-respect.
Source note: Elements of Morals, section 165, Caroline Rollin Corson translation, Project Gutenberg #37016. Janet immediately balances this with “Remember that thou art but a man” as the check against vain pride, making self-respect and humility complementary rather than opposites.
Source identified
“We have to forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to become like other people.”
Conformity is described as costly when fitting in requires surrendering too much individuality, judgment, or temperament.
Source note: Counsels and Maxims, in Schopenhauer’s discussion of society and individuality; T. Bailey Saunders translation.
Source identified
“Humility should not be an abasement; for it is never a virtue in man to lower himself.”
Janet sharply separates humility from self-degradation: accurate awareness of human weakness should coexist with dignity, so humility does not require pretending that one has no worth or abilities.
Source note: Elements of Morals, section 165, Caroline Rollin Corson translation, Project Gutenberg #37016. Janet contrasts humility with false abasement and defines it alongside self-respect as an accurate estimate of both human weakness and human dignity.