In an age where fake self-esteem reigns supreme,
Learn “true self-esteem” from Nietzsche!

“Let’s keep it by our bedside like the Bible or Buddhist scriptures and read it little by little every day.
Then, it is not a matter of baseless pride or vain self-esteem,
You will develop a confident and beautiful self-love and self-esteem.”
Choi Jae-cheon, Professor Emeritus, Department of Eco-Science, Ewha Womans University

★★★ The latest work by Takashi Saito, author of "The Conditions of a First-Class Man."
★★★ Highly recommended by Professor Choi Jae-cheon, Dr. Park Moon-ho, and Author Jang Jae-hyung.

Social media platforms like Instagram, blogs, and YouTube have become exhibition halls for self-recognition, where individuals showcase their appearance, education, job, connections, money, and even their "happy life" to the world.
Some people say that showing off increases their self-esteem, while others say that peeking at it lowers their self-esteem.
Today, we live in an age where we are exposed to more comparisons than ever before, making it inevitable that we will feel a strong sense of inferiority and self-loathing.
Did Nietzsche predict this 150 years ago?
“People must constantly learn and practice the skill of loving themselves,” he argued.
Nietzsche, who declared the 'death of God', boldly broke the old dichotomy that "God is superior and humans are inferior."
Furthermore, he emphasized that we, who are told to love God and our neighbors but cannot love ourselves, must first learn to love and affirm ourselves.
This is the core of Nietzsche's thought.

Takashi Saito, a Nietzsche aficionado who has been reading Nietzsche for 40 years, wrote this book, saying that it is essential to read Nietzsche now, when self-esteem can easily be low.
Introducing key concepts of Nietzsche's philosophy, such as 'the death of God', 'superman', 'amor fati', 'the will to power', and 'eternal recurrence', it suggests ways to live as one's true self without comparing oneself to others or being swayed by the desires of others.
It teaches various techniques to love yourself and increase your self-esteem, such as enjoying the freedom of solitude as a loner, creating a creative world like a child, living resiliently even in pain, being grateful for the life and destiny given to you, living as a master rather than a slave, and acknowledging the present moment.
I hope that readers, as they read Nietzsche, will acquire a 'true self-esteem' that is solid from the inside out, rather than a 'fake self-esteem' that is only superficial.
You will gain the precious experience of truly loving yourself, others, and everything in the world.

Nietzsche has a deep understanding of people with low self-esteem.
This is also why it is easy for us to sympathize with Nietzsche's words today.
In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which contains the shocking statement, “God is dead,” Nietzsche denies Christianity.
This is because I believe that the claim that the truth of Christianity is good and therefore all things exist in the heavenly world, and that humans living on earth are in a situation where they have difficulty loving and affirming themselves, is wrong.
It is said that humans must transcend the cowardice of treating humans as insignificant beings and unconditionally worshipping God as a superior being.

--- p.15

"Rather than envying others, isn't there something I can do that's uniquely my own? If I dig deep beneath my feet, there might be hidden treasures." I seem to hear Nietzsche's voice.
Anyone who thinks, 'I have nothing,' needs to dig deep and discover their hidden talents.
People who are dissatisfied with their current relationships should change their minds and think, "I might feel lonely if I lose these relationships."
There may be something shining hidden in what you already own and what you already do.
It's well worth digging into.

--- p.41

In my case, I recognized another me within myself and at the same time told myself, “I am always on my side,” as if it were a slogan.
I'm not sure if this is a quote from Nietzsche's book or if I made it up myself, but I've been so familiar with it for so long that it's become completely mine.
Thanks to that, I have never considered myself an enemy.
Of course, there were times when I reflected on my words and actions and felt hurt, thinking, 'I shouldn't have done that,' but I never denied or hated the existence of the country itself.
From my own experience, I encourage you to keep telling yourself, “Always be on your own side.”
It can also be said to be connected to Nietzsche's powerful way of life of “love and respect yourself.”

--- p.51~52

And when I say 'loner', I feel lonely, desolate, and weak.
On the other hand, 'loners' give the impression of being 'loyal people' who enjoy spending time alone.
In English, it is expressed as 'solitude', and it feels like something strong.
If you feel lonely, tell yourself, “I am not lonely, I am alone.”
I want you to think of Nietzsche, the lone man who stood alone against the great power called Christianity.
Strength and courage will well up from deep within your heart.
Strength only comes from being alone.

--- p.71

However, Nietzsche, who was born about 250 years after Descartes, thought that the body was reason.
'Humans cannot live by soul alone.
He argued that 'the little reason we call the mind is nothing more than a small instrument of the great reason we call the body.'
As the expression “what you perceive with your senses” appears in the previous quote, Nietzsche tells us to first perceive this world with our own senses.
Then think about what the world you have grasped is.
He said that when senses and thoughts are connected and combined in this way, a new world is created.

--- p.86

The people we want to be friends with are not those with a servile or despotic spirit.
Also, if you have a slavish or despotic spirit, it will be difficult to become the friend that Nietzsche speaks of.
Why not use Nietzsche's words as a catalyst to reflect on the qualities you want in a friend and the qualities necessary to be a friend? Doing so will help you steer your friendships in a better direction.

--- p.93

In short, the 'childhood period' refers to the period of positive thinking and play.
That doesn't mean you go back to being a child.
Knowing the pain and insecurity of living bound by the rules of society, and through that experience learning the art of rebelling against outdated values ​​and asserting oneself.
It signifies the state of innocent mind that opens at the end.
In other words, when the mind reaches the 'childhood stage', it can fully affirm itself and create new values.

--- p.123

When we say 'surpassing humans', it might feel like a very high barrier.
But if you think about it a little more lightly, isn't it something like this? Comparing the before and after of something, like a "before & after," and thinking you've surpassed yourself?
For example, if you decide to read a book by Dostoevsky that you have never read before, you can start with Crime and Punishment.
If I read this book, I will surpass myself, who had never read Dostoevsky.
Next, read The Brothers Karamazov.
Once again, I surpassed myself, who had only read Crime and Punishment among Dostoevsky's works.

--- p.153~154

Zarathustra did not pursue 'happiness'.
It's easy for people to think that they will be happy if their worries are resolved, but he was different.
“That is not happiness.
“I seek happiness in building a business,” he said.
When you think about your life's goal, if you say it's to live happily without worries or pain, it feels small-scale and boring.
That's because I believe that happiness is something that is achieved through hardship and suffering, no matter what the business is.
--- p.163~164

Now that I think about it, freedom has a painful side.
Perhaps the reason people around the world submit to authority, and sometimes even surrender to dictators, is because they want to throw away their freedom and find comfort.
This scene, which asks the fundamental question of Christianity, “Do humans really want freedom?”, is in line with Nietzsche’s way of thinking.
In any case, freedom should not be an 'escape'.
When you think of freedom, think of Nietzsche's words and ask yourself:
“Freedom for what?”
--- p.195

Accepting fate and settling for fate may seem similar, but they are completely different.
The latter has a nuance of not wanting to accept fate for some reason, but being unable to resist and having no choice.
On the other hand, if we affirm fate, the subject becomes 'I'.
It is closer to the image of facing one's fate, as it is about accepting one's fate with one's own will.
Zarathustra's 'aggressive courage' also has something in common with this.
Originally, it is oneself who determines the good or bad of one's own destiny.
Conversely, it can be said that the good or bad of one's fate is determined by how one accepts it.
No matter how unfortunate, pitiful, or unlucky those around you may be, if you have the courage to face this fate with the thought that it was you who chose it, then it is a wonderful fate.

--- p.236~237