From William Hazlitt's essay "On the Conduct of Life," which is addressed to his son William, we learn that the latter's unhappiness with his new school arises from a number of sources. From the first, Hazlitt observes, his son had been leery of this experience: You were sure you should not like the school where you were going." Once there, he has problems getting along with other students because he takes no notice of them and isn't willing to get to know them. In response, his father counsels him:

never ... conceive a prejudice against others, because you know nothing of them. It is bad reasoning, and makes enemies of half the world.

In addition, young William holds some students in contempt because they are less well-dressed than himself. The essayist warns him that this is a dangerous error: "Never despise anyone at all; for contempt implies a triumph over and pleasure in the ill of another."

His son also complains that he is not treated with the same respect that he enjoys at home and with his local friends. Hazlitt explains to him that this is exactly the reason that he has sent him to school—"to inure you betimes to the unavoidable rubs and uncertain reception you may meet with in life." He continues with a more general statement of the values which he wishes his son to absorb:

But the first lesson to learn is that there are other people in the world besides yourself. ... True equality is the only true morality of true wisdom.