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Comment by michaelfeathers | Hacker News Reader

I wish I understood this translation:

"Against "self-esteem" Briers wants to make the concept of "self-esteem", meaning that they have no basis for their self-image, that you act in order to feel satisfied with their effort.

"If it were possible to wait for the man himself would come into a room," wrote British writer Rebecca West, "so there are not many of us who would feel his heart swell with anticipation when we heard the handle is pushed down."

It is a black and provocative image, but maybe it can be taken as the basis for our efforts to improve ourselves, trying to be such that one feels a thrill of joy when that door opens"

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Norwegian here.

I can't really translate your first quote, but a better translation of the second one is:

" 'If it were possible to wait for one-self to enter a room', the British author Rebecca West wrote, 'then there is not many of us who would feel their heart swell in expectation when we heard the door-handle being pushed down.'

This is a dark and provoking image, but perhaps it can be taken as a starting point for our struggle to improve ourselves: to attempt to become such that one feels a thrill of joy when that door is opened."

Thanks. That makes much more sense.

The second "esteem" is "aktning", which have a bit different connotation. They got a "no" added in the translation, which inverted the meaning. What is meant, i believe, is that it is better with a real basis for your view of yourself, e.g. that you think you have reached something that needed hard work in some way (the "work" I use here could be just thinking inside your head).

The second quote from the author is, I believe, about getting to where you're able to be expectant and happy to see your true self.

Edit: To me this seems like a literary author trying to obfuscate a simple point: "It is better for your ability to work to be someone that is happy by trying to see who you are, instead of following suspect gurus." That this was made poetic and hard to understand is imho a really fun irony... But perhaps I've known too many literary/idealistic people which were so good with language that they could rationalize anything to themselves.

Edit 2: Tried to make what I believe this means clearer.

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