Hamlet. The original version was “This above all: to thine own self be true.”21 Anybody remember who said that line? If not, don’t feel bad; I had to look it up. It was Polonius, the fool. It’s the fool who encourages us to live by the slogan “Be true to yourself,” and yet we mouth his mantra like it’s gospel. We just assume (remember, ideas are assumptions about reality) that the way to a happy, flourishing life is to follow our hearts, which we often misunderstand to be any authentic desire.
