"People desperately want to be good and to be recognized as good. It is, finally, a matter of mental health and well-being. They need to be worthy of approval. The quest for self-esteem is based upon this need. But you can’t just pump yourself up with it, you have to achieve genuine human worth, and this is done by attaining moral character and life... Otherwise self-esteem rings hollow and creates inauthentic and unsatisfying self-absorption..."
From Why It Matters If You Are Moral by Dallas Willard
