Ichiro Kishimi

Maybe ‘normal’ is the only choice I have. Maybe I will just have to accept my mediocre self and surrender to leading a mediocre, everyday existence. But I will fight it.

As Adler clearly indicates, ‘The one who boasts does so only out of a feeling of inferiority.’

PHILOSOPHER: That’s right. If one really has confidence in oneself, one doesn’t feel the need to boast. It’s because one’s feeling of inferiority is strong that one boasts. One feels the need to flaunt one’s superiority all the more. There’s the fear that if one doesn’t do that, not a single person will accept one ‘the way I am’. This is a full-blown superiority complex.

It’s enough to just keep moving in a forward direction, without competing with anyone. And, of course, there is no need to compare oneself with others.

problems are interpersonal relationship problems,

That reminds me of a line that the writer Kurt Vonnegut quoted in one of his books: ‘God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference.’

It’s true. We do not lack ability. We just lack courage. It all comes down to courage.

When one is switching from attachment to self to concern for others, the second key concept—confidence in others—becomes absolutely essential.

The two objectives for the psychology that supports these behaviours: the consciousness that I have the ability and the consciousness that people are my comrades.’

In other words, ‘to be self-reliant’ and ‘the consciousness that I have the ability’ corresponds to our discussion of self-acceptance.