A [second-hander] is one who regards the consciousness of other men as superior
to his own and to the facts of reality. It is to a [second-hander] that the
moral appraisal of himself by others is a primary concern which supersedes
truth, facts, reason, logic. The disapproval of others is so shatteringly
terrifying to him that nothing can withstand its impact within his
consciousness; thus he would deny the evidence of his own eyes and invalidate
his own consciousness for the sake of any stray charlatan’s moral sanction. It
is only a [second-hander] who could conceive of such absurdity as hoping to win
an intellectual argument by hinting: “But people won’t like you!”