Pastoral Resources

I fed my ego, but not my soul.

If the egotist is weak, his egotism is worthless. If the egotist is strong, acute, full of distinctive character, his egotism is precious, and remains a possession of the race.

I'm aware that, from the outside, this looks like I've got quite an ego.

Egotism - usually just a case of mistaken nonentity.

It has always seemed strange to me... the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.

If some really acute observer made as much of egotism as Freud has made of sex, people would forget a good deal about sex and find the explanation for everything in egotism.

To have ego means to believe in your own strength. And to also be open to other people's views. It is to be open, not closed. So, yes, my ego is big, but it's also very small in some areas. My ego is responsible for my doing what I do - bad or good.

Vietnam was a lie but at least there was a political agenda. It was the domino theory. Iraq is about nothing but George Bush's ego laced with imperialist ambitions. And it was helped by your government.

My desire is to let go of my ego and let in His direction.

If my ego was out of whack and I believed I could carry anything off, that would be a stupid risk. But so far there's been no reason not to try anything.

The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention.

It is probably very necessary to present your ego at some point.

I don't want the giant ego. I don't want to become Kevin Costner, singing on the soundtrack to The Postman.

What is it in you that brings you to a spiritual teacher in the first place? It's not the spirit in you, since that is already enlightened, and has no need to seek. No, it is the ego in you that brings you to a teacher.

Ego is a social fiction for which one person at a time gets all the blame.