Thomas Merton Quotes

The vain man makes a merit of misfortune, and triumphs in his disgrace.

Conceit is thinking you're great; egotism is knowing it.

Too much self-regard has never struck me as dignified: trying to twist over my shoulder to view my own behind.

Self-consciousness is really a form of egotism.

I think the concept of ego has kind of taken over for a lot of people in our industry.

Vanity is not high on my list of priorities.

In the midst of a world of light and love, of song and feast and dance, [Lucifer] could find nothing to think of more interesting than his own prestige.

For what is the self-complacent man but a slave to his own self-praise.

Many said selfishness was the flaw of our modern age; but then self-conceit emerged from a corner of the deepest hell to join selfishness.

Vanity, indeed, is the very antidote to conceit; for while the former makes us all nerve to the opinion of others, the latter is perfectly satisfied with its opinion of itself.

Egotism is more like an offense, than a crime; though it is allowable to speak of yourself, provided nothing is advanced in favor; but I cannot help suspecting that those who abuse themselves are, in reality, angling for approbation.

Any effort that has self-glorification as its final endpoint is bound to end in disaster.

Authorship of any sort is a fantastic indulgence of the ego.

Vanity is so constantly solicitous of self, that even where its own claims are not interested, it indirectly seeks the aliment which it loves, by showing how little is deserved by others.

Pride is over-estimation of oneself by reason of self-love.

Vanity finds in self-love so powerful an ally that it storms, as it were, by a coup de main,, the citadel of our heads, where, having blinded the two watchmen, it readily descends into the heart.

men are so conceited they’ll believe anything that flatters them

Vanity is something that will only get in the way of doing your best work, and ultimately if you're truly vain you care more about your work than how you look in your work. I actually consider myself a pretty vain guy when it comes to that.

I never saw movies I was in because my mom told me that would be prideful, being stuck on yourself.

Egotism: The art of seeing in yourself what others cannot see.

Vanity is but the surface.

That Man indeed can never be good at heart, who is full of himself and his own Endowments.

Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity, to what we would have others think of us.

I loathe narcissism, but I approve of vanity.

In many people it is already an impertinence to say 'I'.