J. B. Priestley Quotes

This arrogance thing... I've had that my whole life. I flip between, 'Oh really? Oh, thank you. Wow. That's amazing' and, 'Yeah! Of course I am.' They're both varying degrees of a self-defence mechanism. It can be from minute to minute that I change.

I definitely don't think that I'm hot doo-doo. I don't.

I hope I don't have an ego.

I've never felt the need to show that I am either clever or tall because I'm not.

I don't wake up each morning saying, 'Oh, wow, it's me. I think I'm the cat's meow. I'm the best.'

Whatever talents I possess may suddenly diminish or suddenly increase. I can with ease become an ordinary fool. I may be one now. But it doesn't do to upset one's own vanity.

I did not have any delusions of grandeur as a kid.

I find it very hard to take myself seriously.

The delicate balance between modesty and conceit is popularity.

I'm not great at talking about myself.

I don't wanna sound pretentious talking about myself.

Because of its phantom nature, and despite elaborate defense mechanisms, the ego is very vulnerable and insecure, and it sees itself as constantly under threat. This, by the way, is the case even if the ego is outwardly very confident.

I was very shy. I'm still shy.

I have come to the conclusion that it's a waste of time to have too much pride in anything. Perhaps it's good to have a sense of duty, a jealous zeal to protect or improve, but pride ultimately is only that which stands vulnerable to offense and degradation.

You proceed from a false assumption: I have no ego to bruise.

Pride is an admission of weakness; it secretly fears all competition and dreads all rivals.

I don't get self-conscious. I'm not vain in that way.

Self-love for ever creeps out, like a snake, to sting anything which happens to stumble upon it.

Although I am small, ugly and dirty, I am highly ambitious, and at the slightest flattery, I immediately start to strut like a turkey.

I don't have an ego; I'm not egotistical or anything like that.

I'm not going to be horrible just for the sake of having attitude or make other people feel small just to make me feel bigger.

We're all insecure, aren't we? I'm not walking around like I'm macho man or anything.

I'm not cocky. I'm not arrogant. I know my value.

Vanity is not important to me.

I had this giant ego of an athlete, but I was self-conscious at everything else.