It must be emphasized that productive achievement is a consequence and an expression of healthy self-esteem, not
its cause. The cause of authentic self-esteem is psycho-epistemological: the rational, reality-directed character of a
mind's thinking processes. The causal sequence is as follows: a rational psycho-epistemology leads to the
attainment of self-esteem; the two together lead (under normal conditions) to achievements; achievements lead to
pride. Metaphysical efficacy leads to particularized efficacy.
Failing to understand this causal sequence, many men make the disastrous error of attempting to base their self-
esteem on their existential achievements—the error of gauging their personal worth by how well they succeed in
achieving particular productive goals. As mentioned earlier, success of this kind is not necessarily in a man's direct,
volitional control and/or not in his exclusive control. Since man is neither omniscient nor infallible, and since, in
many productive endeavors, the participation of other men is involved—it is profoundly dangerous to a man's self-
esteem, and therefore to his psychological well-being, to let his sense of personal worth depend on factors beyond
his control.
Sometimes, this error is made innocently, through an honest failure of understanding. Sometimes, however, it is
neurotically motivated: a man who is brilliantly talented and successful at his work, but who is flagrantly irrational
in the conduct of his private life, may desperately want to believe that the sole criterion of virtue is productive
performance, that nothing else matters, that no other sphere of action has moral significance. Such a man may bury
himself in his work, in order to evade feelings of shame and guilt stemming from other areas of his life—so that
productive work becomes, not a healthy passion, but a neurotic escape, a refuge from reality and from the judgment
of his own ego.
Self-Esteem and Pleasure
Pleasure, for man, is not a luxury, but a profound psychological need.
Pleasure (in the widest sense of the term) is a metaphysical concomitant of life, the reward and consequence of
successful action—just as pain is the insignia of failure, destruction, death.
Through the state of enjoyment, man experiences the value of life, the sense that life is worth living, worth
struggling to maintain.