The social self is simply any idea, or system of ideas, drawn from the communicative life, that the mind cherishes as its own. - Charles Cooley

How is a man to find where he belongs in life? The more original he is, the less likely is he to find his place prepared for him. He must not expect to see from the beginning what mould his life will take... The power to work on faith is what distinguishes great men.

I am not what I think I am, and I am not what you think I am. I am what I think you think I am.

A self-idea of this sort seems to have three principal elements: the imagination of our appearance to the other person; the imagination of his judgment of that appearance, and some sort of self-feeling, such as pride or mortification.