Schopenhauer : what matters is who we truly are

My 'act of anthropy' by telling you about Schopenhauer:

He says: Be yourself!

Transcript of what Alain de Botton said about the philosophy of Schopenhauer from

Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyE4wXvJmTQ

How much justice lies in the worlds assessment of you?
perhaps the most trenchant advocate of this position was the 19th century philosopher Author Schopenhauer.
He said: We will gradually become indifferent about what goes on in the minds of other people, when we acquire a knowledge of the superficial nature of their thoughts, the narrowness of their views and the number of their errors.
Whoever attaches alot of value on the opinion of others pays them too much honour.

References to an example award ceremony, then says:
Many of us work for the respect of our peers as much as to earn, Schopenhauer urges us to be aware. Schopenhauer believed that we were chronically prone to overrate the opinion of others. We don't stop to ask ourselves what basis these opinions are formed. If we did, we would often find that those who are successful, who is a failure is based on nothing more than suspicion, rumour and fashion.

A lady (award recipient) features and she says ' to be actually recognised for something by these really influential and prestigious people is just the most amazing feeling'.

A Man (award recipient) says: It just feels fantastic, its like some sort of justification for what we have been trying to do.

Schopenhauer said: Other peoples heads are too wretched a place for true happiness to have its seat. Would a musician feel proud from the loud applause of an audience, the philosopher asked, if it were known to him that it consisted entirely of deaf people.

Schopenhauers argument could be described as 'intelligent misanthropy'. Its draw back is that we could end up like the philosopher himself did, with few friends, living alone in a flat in Frankfurt with only a poodle for company.

But it also offers us a bracing antedote for our anxiety and vulnerability, the good opinion we crave DON'T actually know us, so why let their verdicts govern what we make of ourselves?

What Schopenhauer urges us to do is to trust ourselves, to analyse ourselves, rather than base our ideas on public opinion, what matters is NOT what we seem to the world BUT in fact what we truly are.

(wow, so poetically put too)..