Conceit is incompatible with understanding.
—Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian Novelist
Wind puffs up empty bladders; opinion, fools.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Nobody can be kinder than the narcissist while you react to life in his own terms.
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) Irish Novelist, Short-story Writer
The best of lessons, for a good many people, would be, to listen at a key hole.—It is a pity for such that the practice is dishonorable.
—Sophie Swetchine (1782–1857) Russian Mystic, Writer
One’s self-satisfaction is an untaxed kind of property, which it is very unpleasant to find depreciated.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Conceit is the most contemptible, and one of the most odious qualities in the world.—It is vanity driven from all other shifts, and forced to appeal to itself for admiration.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Narcissus does not fall in love with his reflection because it is beautiful, but because it is his. If it were his beauty that enthralled him, he would be set free in a few years by its fading.
—W. H. Auden (1907–73) British-born American Poet, Dramatist
Whenever nature leaves a hole in a person’s mind, she generally plasters it over with a thick coat of self-conceit.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
At very best, a person wrapped up in himself makes a small package.
—Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878–1969) American Baptist Minister
Conceit is to nature what paint is to beauty; it is not only needless, but it impairs what it would improve.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
Conceit and confidence are both of them cheats.—The first always imposes on itself; the second frequently deceives others.
—Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann (1728–95) Swiss Philosophical Writer, Naturalist, Physician
Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.
—Unknown
See the man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Conceit may puff a man up, but can never prop him up.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
They say that every one of us believes in his heart, or would like to have others believe, that he is something which he is not.
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) English Novelist
It is the admirer of himself, and not the admirer of virtue, that thinks himself superior to others.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
Conceited men are a harmless kind of creatures, who, by their overweening self-respect, relieve others from the duty of respecting them at all.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
A man—poet, prophet, or whatever he may be—readily persuades himself of his right to all the worship that is voluntarily tendered.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–64) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
I cannot call riches by a better name than the “baggage” of virtue; the Roman word is better, “impediment.” For as the baggage is to an army, so are riches to virtue. It cannot be spared or left behind, and yet it hindereth the march; yea, and the care of it sometimes loseth or disturbeth the victory. Of great riches there is no real use, except in the distribution; the rest is but conceit.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
No man was ever so much deceived by another as by himself.
—George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick (1746–1816) British Nobleman, Politician
Solvency is maintained by means of a national debt, on the principle, “If you will not lend me the money, how can I pay you?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
As individuals and as a nation, we now suffer from social narcissism. The beloved Echo of our ancestors, the virgin America, has been abandoned. We have fallen in love with our own image, with images of our making, which turn out to be images of ourselves.
—Daniel J. Boorstin (1914–2004) American Historian, Academic, Attorney
Conceit is God’s gift to little men.
—Bruce Fairchild Barton (1886–1967) American Author, Advertising Executive, Politician
Conceit in weakest bodies works the strongest.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
There is a difference between conceit and confidence. Conceit is bragging about yourself. Confidence means you believe you can get the job done.
—Johnny Unitas (1933–2002) American Football Player
None are so seldom found alone, and are so soon tired of their own company as those coxcombs who are on the best terms with themselves.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.
—Alexander Hamilton (c.1757–1804) American Federalist Politician, Statesman
Whatever accomplishment you boast of in the world, there is someone better than you.
—African Proverb
He who is enamored of himself will at least have the advantage of being inconvenienced by few rivals.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Philosopher, Physicist
Narcissist: psychoanalytic term for the person who loves himself more than his analyst; considered to be the manifestation of a dire mental disease whose successful treatment depends on the patient learning to love the analyst more and himself less.
—Thomas Szasz (1920–2012) Hungarian-American Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst
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