Seeing that quote, outside of its theatrical context,
one might regard it with the same optimism and innocence as Ralph Waldo Emerson’s
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” (And, indeed, in his
essay collection Representative Men, the American admired the German man
of letters so much as to offer him as an example of “The Writer.”) What could
be wrong with that?
Well, wait. In Goethe’s tragedy Faust, the line
is said by Mephistopheles—yes, the Devil himself. He may be more gentlemanly
and witty than what one might expect, but he remains wheedling, calmly appealing
to Faust’s belief in his own reason and scholar’s overweening vanity.
Self-confidence lies at the heart of the modern
self-help movement. Yet it is crucial to remember that, unchecked by any outside
restraint, that quality can lead to self-delusion, a refusal to recognize
reality, and a willingness to use others for one’s own ends.
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