From a perhaps less interesting thread;
Thanks for sharing that again.
James…
You almost seem to be defining self-esteem here as ego. Am I wrong? I think that you would say that they are not the same, no?
I read that book - it was wonderful and so interesting. For me, it is about how the demon of vanity can become awakened within us, leading to such narcissism and apathy, if we are not self aware. It was also about the danger that the influence of another can have on us - especially if we do not know who we in “reality” are within and without, which can be a part of what self-esteem is.
All the above is obviously interesting and relevant. However you need not be a flour de mal to really appreciate art, in it’s total encompassed self, even including such bizarre twists and turns as dali. Particularly his metamorphosis of narcissus comes to mind. The esteem issues become irrelevant, as has been said in case the portfolio as empty as it is becomes the container for a dossier properly named art for art’s sake.
Nevertheless, another trio of esteem comes to mind: concept, image, and role. Any deficiency of in that trilogy can be compensated for, and if not consciously, then dear old superego will properly do the job, not excluding any and all deals.
That’s the magic of art appreciation, of becoming one with, which no one, with his head screwed on, can disallow.
Consequences? Certainly: pay the price when the time comes. What is it? Death? -no-eternal life- just as was promised. Kierkegaard and others saw it as a worthwhile deal.
Now the whole idea about progression is also legitimate, and it depends , which way you want to go from the top or the bottom. .if you go from the top, kind of trickle down reagenomics way, can you afford it? Certainly, anything for art. Life imitates art, even nothwithstanding a total, eclipsed soul as the only residual remnant of some far flung and long lost midas touch, and of course always, but always sorrily, without the portfolio.
How can the picture ever be seen as having been slashed and disposed of? That’s why the the portfolio is empty. Not to worry!
The Id is the people within a country who often have a distortedly negative belief in the quality of the country. The Ego is the government of the country trying to reassure the people of the good of the country. The Superego is the diplomats trying to convince other countries of the greatness of the country.
There is always a degree of dissonance between the Id and the Ego, what a person really believes he is versus what he is constantly trying to convince himself that he is. To remove that dissonance is to become one with yourself, to accept your own weaknesses and strengths as what you truly perceive them to be, to be wholly honest with yourself.
Self-esteem is the reinforcement of the admiration of oneself used to help dissuade the Id from presuming too much negative. It is bringing one’s worthiness into the assessment process. Of course one can exaggerate in either direction, and can never be totally accurate, thus what was self-esteem can become ego-enforcement wherein one is lying to oneself in order to dissuade the dissonance of the Id, yet creating it by default.
That separation between ones believed actual state (one’s own knowledge of one’s guilt or innocence) and the image that one supports of himself to himself, is the dissonance that creates the Dorian Gray syndrome.
It isn’t really about physical youth and appearance. It is about self-esteem and actual innocence. Dorian Gray wanted to believe in his purity and innocence so he separated his truer belief from his preferred image and lived the image while hiding the knowledge of his guilt from even himself.
When that true belief in himself became too ugly to bare, he tried to destroy it entirely, the government that tries to destroy all dissenters so as to entirely believe in its own goodness (aka “propaganda”). The end result is that the Id, the dissenting people, the inner belief of the system, organization, and person is the true self which being destroyed, destroys the false image, the propaganda, the ego as well.
The government that tries to kill all dissenters so as to perpetuate belief in the good of the government, forsakes truth. And truth, despite often losing battles, wins every war. In the end of such an effort, the only thing that actually survives is the painting, a false historical record of what the nation, or person, was at one time. But the nation is no more.
A degree of self-esteem is required for the exact same reason that a degree of national pride is not merely preferred, but required so as to offset those within who are too critical and negative, always lacking the ability to see the larger picture. But if truth is denied, if the government, the ego, isn’t humble enough to the embarrassing facts, the ensuing dissonance will kill the entire nation.
If a person refuses a degree of self-esteem, he will become too negative about himself out of inner ignorance of the bigger picture. But if he refuses all negative belief concerning himself, he will become blind to his real enemies, refusing to accept the truth of his real situation. In one case he dies from the ignorance of his worthiness. In the other case, he dies from the ignorance of his unworthiness.
One cannot ascend the Earth into a heavenly state by silencing all dissenters, by manipulating all thought, and controlling all actions.
Let reality be controller and sentience ascends on its own.
The painting yes. The myth of the art of the image's power to bend hearts and minds. Propaganda. But regardless, even without the governing body, the painting subsists. It can not be destroyed. Slashing it was a futile effort. Oine thing about masters. They are copied and forged universally. And amateurs can rarely tell the difference, they will buy and buy, and display them in their living room, and the guests will all admire it as the real thing. But, and here is the clincher, the good forgeries can even excel the best original.
Of course as soon as the unfortunate deprived buyer realises his mistake, he can always pass it on to someone else if needed. After all what are friends for?
The transactions reaching certain limits, the last buyer may not dare to not to buy, if he values some kind of friendship, or heart. Or perhaps he can. Always say, that he bought it in a charity shop up on high street, Rather!
More often, much more often, the buyer once discovering the illusion, chooses to maintain the illusion and accept that the “real truth” is the picture (“pictures don’t lie”) and hide the details. He would rather avoid embarrassment and perpetuate the myth as truth rather than give in to his unfortunate state. 
And then, whalla! Myth becomes reality. Any way nowedays it’s hard to tell the difference. That’s a comfort.
Yes, if one can’t accept and enjoy one’s nudity in public, then maybe one shouldn’t be an emperor. 
If one must hide from the truth so as to gain dominance, perhaps one should not be dominate.
“Who told you that you were naked?!?!” 
That is a very good text! Congratulations! =D>
Well, thank you.
…and btw, that was supposed to be Oscar Wilde, not Orson Wells. 
Orson Wells played Dorian Grey in said movie. No worries.
That was Sorry there, he wrote the screenplay adaptation to the novel. My bad.