Greatness

The crowd can measure greatness only in proportion to its capacity to comprehend the greatness emitted by the great individual; thus if one has unparalleled greatness, to the point of surpassing the crowd's comprehension, there is only the possibility for faith in his greatness, hence unverified greatness, hence -- not greatness at all; he no longer is great, but -- foreign. Thus is the formula on which greatness rests: esse est percipi. One can only rely on oneself, and unless you are a genius at denial, you will hate yourself if you hold greatness to be the idealic waters in which to swim; one cannot convince himself of his worth except through a little reinforcement at the hands of others. But the others have relation to even more others; the opinion of subset 1 necessarily differs in opinion with the innumerable other subsets. Therefore what truly is greatness in relation to the crowd? What is greatness at all? A will to power supported by imaginary stilts. If you love fickleness, it is best to trust the crowd; take your own side arbitrarily, and someone is bound to love you, no matter how miserable your talents are in relation to anyone else, and if you know the alchemic art of adding obstinance to your denial, you can easily brush off the opinions of those you differ with as "inferior", "unenlightened", or brutally "incorrect". Nevertheless it is even better to trust yourself, but without a care for your own excellence; this is the only hope for an individual who wishes for a still conscience. Indeed, it is the only hope for an individual who wishes to see anything at all beyond the nauseating walls of self.