But the significance of these admissions is the very opposite of what it is commonly supposed to be.

They do not make the pessimism I have been arguing one whit less worthy of attention; on the contrary, they make it more worthy.

This is the point on which I may most readily be misunderstood.

I will therefore try to make my meaning as clear as possible.
Pessimism, then, represents, to the popular mind, a philosophy or view of life the very name of which is enough to condemn it.

The popular mind, however, overlooks one important point.