On Living to One’s-Self explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Fame, Reputation, and Public Opinion

  Hazlitt excoriates the public as envious, ungrateful, and fickle, arguing that seeking their applause leads to misery and loss of self.

• The Psychology of Habit and Novelty

  The chapter contrasts the habitual contentment of solitary contemplation with the restless, novelty-driven pursuit of public recognition.

• The Nature of Learning and Pedantry

  Hazlitt celebrates genuine, disinterested learning (reading for pleasure, admiring nature) over the pedantic desire to display knowledge or produce works.

• Criticism and Critical Practice

  Hazlitt critiques the cruelty and superficiality of contemporary criticism, where every petty caviller becomes a judge and authors are hounded.

Characters to notice

• William Hazlitt

  Narrator and central figure; reflects on his own past life of contemplation and warns against the pursuit of public acclaim.

• John Milton

  Mentioned as an example of a great author whose posterity (the public) now honors him, but who would likely be neglected if alive.

• William Shakespeare

  Mentioned alongside Milton as a figure whose fame is secure only after death, illustrating the fickleness of public opinion.

• Robert Burns

  Referenced in an anecdote about a Scotchman who would rather subscribe to a monument for Burns than give him money while living.

• Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke

  Quoted at length on the inner resources that cannot be taken away by exile or the world's opinion.

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau

  Quoted: 'If ever there was a man who did not derive more pain than pleasure from his vanity, that man was no other than a fool.'

• William Hogarth

  Invoked as the ideal artist to depict the comic misery of a provincial theater company.

• David Wilkie

  Mentioned alongside Hogarth as a painter who could capture the scene of a struggling theater company.

Key passages

• “The public is as envious and ungrateful as it is ignorant, stupid, and pigeon-livered— 'A huge-sized monster of ingratitudes.'”

  The public is not only ignorant and cowardly, but also envious and ungrateful, like a vast monster of ingratitude.

  Hazlitt's bitter indictment of the reading public's treatment of authors.

• “As a general rule, all those who live by the public starve, and are made a byword and a standing jest into the bargain.”

  As a rule, anyone who depends on the public for a living ends up starving and becomes a laughingstock.

  Hazlitt's cynical summary of the fate of professional authors and performers.

• “While a man is contented with himself and his own resources, all is well. When he undertakes to play a part on the stage, and to persuade the world to think more about him than they do about themselves, he is got into a track where he will find nothing but briars and thorns, vexation and disappointment.”

  As long as a person is satisfied with his own inner life, everything is fine. But once he tries to perform for the world and make others care more about him than they care about themselves, he enters a path of nothing but trouble and disappointment.

  The central thesis of the chapter: self-containment brings peace; seeking public attention brings misery.

• “I lived in a world of contemplation, and not of action. This sort of dreaming existence is the best. He who quits it to go in search of realities generally barters repose for repeated disappointments and vain regrets.”

  I lived a life of thought, not of doing. This dreamlike existence is the best. Anyone who leaves it to pursue real-world achievements usually trades peace for repeated disappointments and useless regrets.

  Hazlitt's personal reflection on his own past happiness and the cost of ambition.