An interesting article sent to me by George: Theodore Dalrymple on Self-Esteem vs. Self-Respect.
In the essay Dalrymple criticizes the modern fetish with “self-esteem” which Dalrymple considers to be a form of egotism. … In place of self-esteem Dalrymple calls for self-respect which, in his mind, is inherently social and other-focused…
To illustrate this, Dalrymple considers how we might pay more attention to how we dress: “The small matter of cleaning one’s shoes, for example, is not one of vanity alone… It is a recognition that one lives in a social world. That is why total informality of dress is a sign of advancing egotism.”
Richard Beck on his blog