Malcolm Muggeridge Quotes

A man's own vanity is a swindler that never lacks for a dupe.

Our true passions are selfish.

For six months I'd do movies and make it all about me. Then the other six months, it's not about me and it doesn't matter what my hair looks like or what anything looks like.

Pride is characterized by "What do I want out of life?" rather than by "What would God have me do with my life?" It is self-will as opposed to God's will. It is the fear of man over the fear of God.

Vanity in its idler moments is benevolent, is as willing to give pleasure as to take it, and accepts as sufficient reward for its services a kind word or an approving smile.

There's a deceptive sin that can keep us from walking in love: pride. It's deceptive because when you have pride, you're usually too proud to admit it. I know this because I used to have teachings on pride and they didn't sell well.

It's very selfish when I write. I'm not aware, ever, of writing for another person; I'm not even really aware of writing for myself.

Wishful thinking is not idealism. It is self-indulgence at best and self-exaltation at worst. In either case, it is usually at the expense of others. In other words, it is the opposite of idealism.

There are two kinds of egotists: Those who admit it, and the rest of us.

I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle.

What wild imaginations one forms where dear self is concerned! How sure to be mistaken!

Selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride. 'How everything affects me' is the center of all that matters - self-conceit, self-pity, worldly self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking.

An example I often use to illustrate the reality of vanity, is this: look at the peacock; it's beautiful if you look at it from the front. But if you look at it from behind, you discover the truth... Whoever gives in to such self-absorbed vanity has huge misery hiding inside them.

I am pretty self-indulgent.

It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love.

This is a very superficial job. I sit in a chair for two hours and get hair and makeup done and talk about myself in interviews. That's a very vain thing to do. And I do get caught up in it sometimes.

Man has always sacrificed truth to his vanity, comfort and advantage.

What is called generosity is usually only the vanity of giving; we enjoy the vanity more than the thing given.

What we call generosity is for the most part only the vanity of giving; and we exercise it because we are more fond of that vanity than of the thing we give.

When I win, it doesn't occur to me to remember anybody who isn't a loved one.

If an alien came down from Mars and saw us all taking selfies and the like, I think it'd up and leave. It'd think we were all mad.

I always Google myself. It's horrible.

Thorough selfishness destroys or paralyzes enjoyment. A heart made selfish by the contest for wealth is like a citadel stormed in war, utterly shattered.

In all that surrounds him the egotist sees only the frame of his own portrait.

If we never flattered ourselves we should have but scant pleasure.