I see Yalom as confident and was surprised when I read that some thought of him as arrogant.. . But then I thought about it more and I thought about how one person can see arrogance where another person sees confidence.

A year ago I had major abdominal surgery and I almost didn't choose my surgeon because I thought he was arrogant. I complained to a friend about his arrogance and that I didn't want him to do my surgery. She pointed out that when I described him, he seemed very confident to her. So, I spoke with him a few more times before deciding and he was actually very confident and when I realized that, it was very relieving and reassuring.

Anyway, just goes to show you how perceptions create our reality. Interesting!