The distinction that lies in being unhappy (as if to feel happy were a sign of shallowness, lack of ambition, ordinariness) is so great that when someone says, ‘But how happy you must be!’ we usually protest. - Human, All Too Human

For those who need consolation no means of consolation is so effective as the assertion that in their case no consolation is possible: it implies so great a degree of distinction that they at once hold up their heads again. - Daybreak

He was talking about the "narrative" or the life-story that we tell ourselves about us. Sometimes we try to convince ourselves of some "role" or persona and we lie to ourselves that this is our true identity. I noticed this for example in med students (though…

Ours is the age of hero-manufacturing: Everyone wants to be a hero, no matter how unheroic they really are. So we have made dragons of all sizes (even the size of lizards and flies) for anyone to slay and become a hero.