All I ask from others is their own self-interest. I want them to be rational and self-interested when they drive on the highway, so they don't hurt me or another. I want them to pay their bills and be productive, so they don't drag down society morally and psychologically (as well as economically, in a welfare state). I want them to develop all their talents and skills, being as fulfilled as they possibly can be, so that the best and brightest among them will create and produce things of great value to me. I want to live in a culture where creativity and productivity rule, even when it doesn't always affect me directly. I don't want others (especially strangers) to do anything for me. All I want is for them to live their own lives in freedom and with self-responsible attention to their own needs, requirements, wants and desires. I don't want to be forced to finance their ambitions and would never dream of asking anyone to be forced to finance mine. Self-interest means self-responsibility. The rest will follow.

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When somebody -- a celebrity, or someone you know -- says, "I'm sorry for what I did. It was totally wrong. But I was emotionally upset at the time," they're in essence telling you: "I cannot control my emotions, and I'm not even promising to do so in the future." What does it mean to control your emotions? Not to repress or deny their existence, as is commonly thought. To control your emotions means to manage them, think about them and apply reason, facts and logic to them at all times. For example, "My feelings are very strong right now. I very much want to do such-and-such. But it might not be right and I might later regret it. I'm going to think about this first. I'm going to weigh the pros and cons of the action I want to take, and I'm going to evaluate whether my emotions are completely valid, or only partially valid -- or even groundless." This is what people who "apologize" for wrongdoing don't get. The premise of controlling and managing your emotions is that reason trumps feelings. This doesn't mean feelings are always bad and wrong, while reason is always valid and correct. People can engage in flawed or faulty reasoning, and emotions are particularly guilty of encouraging this. But reason, facts and logic are the means thorough which you decide to either engage and indulge your emotions, or refute them.

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Arrogance does not refer to self-esteem. Arrogance is a mental and emotional attitude best expressed by the statement, "I'm incapable of error or wrongdoing. If I do, think or say something, it's automatically right." Isn't this an indication of "too much" self-esteem? No. It's an indication of no self-esteem at all. Why? Because self-esteem is not possible without an orientation to external reality. Even the most minimal orientation to objective reality involves a rational belief that human beings live by reason, and while reason (when mistaken) is ultimately self-correcting -- and in the long-run gets the job done -- reason is subject to error. Human beings, who use reason to survive and thrive -- and have nothing else to go with, if they evade its use -- is fallible. Arrogant people are perfectly aware of this fact. But the arrogant individual believes that somehow, it doesn't apply to him or her.