Ikiro Kishimi, The courage to be disliked
Over the course of five nights, an unsatisfied young man questions a wise teacher about the possibility of happiness. The young man believes that happiness is an elusive illusion in a chaotic world full of contradictions, where everyone wants to appear and feels in perpetual competition with each other. The wise man, on the other hand, is convinced that the world is a simple place, after all, and that happiness is within everyone's reach: it is enough to live in the present by letting go of the past, to be oneself without being conditioned by the judgement or expectations of others, not to want to always appear to be the best. What is needed then? Courage. To choose, to change, to be free. In this five-night long, yet timeless dialogue, a secret is enclosed. A secret that concerns us all, and that will transform us, if we are open to receive it. A secret that will allow us to look deep within ourselves with absolute sincerity, to release all our potential and finally to find ourselves, without striving to please everyone. A secret that will lead us to the very essence of happiness.
Essay written in the form of a dialogue between the young man ‘on a quest’ and the philosopher who explains Adlerian individual psychology to him.