The most common ego identifications have to do with possessions, the work you do, social status and recognition, knowledge and education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, person and family history, belief systems, and often also political, nationalistic, racial, religious, and other collective identifications. None of these is you.
—Eckhart Tolle (b.1948) German Spiritual Teacher, Writer, Public Speaker
Lying increases the creative faculties, expands the ego, lessens the friction of social contacts. It is only in lies, wholeheartedly and bravely told, that human nature attains through words and speech the forbearance, the nobility, the romance, the idealism, that—being what it is—it falls so short of in fact and in deed.
—Clare Boothe Luce (1903–87) American Playwright, Diplomat, Journalist
About the Ego. There are two fields in which it operates and so, it has two meanings: (1) Self-love, Ahamkara, the ‘Dehatma’, Body-consciousness, the Exterior I, and (2) the Inner ‘I’, the Pratyag-Atma.
—Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011) Indian Hindu Religious Leader
Egotism, n: Doing the New York Times crossword puzzle with a pen.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
If due to ego you think: I shall not fight; this resolve of yours is vain. Your own nature will compel you.
—The Bhagavad Gita Hindu Scripture
Egotism is the source and summary of all faults and miseries.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The ego is willing but the machine cannot go on. It’s the last thing a man will admit, that his mind ages.
—William C. Durant (1861–1947) American Industrialist
Through loving devotion, their ego evaporates.
—The Guru Granth Sahib Sacred Text of Sikhism
We would rather speak ill of ourselves than not talk about ourselves at all.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
The ego is not master in its own house.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
All charming people have something to conceal, usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others.
—Cyril Connolly (1903–74) British Literary Critic, Writer
It is the nature of the ego to take, and the nature of the spirit to share.
—Common Proverb
An inflated consciousness is always egocentric and conscious of nothing but its own existence. It is incapable of learning from the past, incapable of understanding contemporary events, and incapable of drawing right conclusions about the future. It is hypnotized by itself and therefore cannot be argued with. It inevitably dooms itself to calamities that must strike it dead.
—Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) Swiss Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher
In any influence, will, a self, the ego, the I AM is the greater force to be dealt with, but as numbers do influence, a knowledge of same certainly gives an individual a foresight into relationships.
—Edgar Cayce (1877–1945) American Faith Healer
Look for intelligence and judgment and, most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego and the drive to get things done.
—Colin Powell (1937–2021) American Military Leader
Our ego is our silent partner – too often with controlling interest.
—Cullen Hightower (b.1923) American Humorist
Our own self-love draws a thick veil between us and our faults.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British-American Philosopher, Author
Intolerance itself is a form of egoism, and to condemn egoism intolerantly is to share it.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
When a man is wrapped up in himself he makes a pretty small package.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Egotism is the art of seeing in yourself what others cannot see.
—George V. Higgins (1939–99) American Crime Novelist
The Universe knows what it’s doing. So don’t develop a big ego, and don’t be afraid.
—Benjamin Hoff American Taoist Writer
The world is burning in the fire of desire, in greed, arrogance and excessive ego.
—The Guru Granth Sahib Sacred Text of Sikhism
An actress must never lose her ego—without it she has no talent.
—Norma Shearer (1902–83) Canadian Actress
When your mind becomes fixed on Me, you shall overcome all difficulties by My grace. But, if you do not listen to Me due to ego, you shall perish.
—The Bhagavad Gita Hindu Scripture
If someone is blessed as I am is not willing to clean out the barn, who will?
—Ross Perot (1930–2019) American Businessman
I have never seen a greater monster or miracle than myself.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
—Colin Powell (1937–2021) American Military Leader
Ego trip: a journey to nowhere.
—Robert Half
Egotism is the anesthetic which nature gives us to deaden the pain of being a fool.
—Herbert Schofield (1882–1963) English Educator, Engineer
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