Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield Quotes

At the deepest level, pride is the choice to exclude both God and other people from their rightful place in our hearts. Jesus said the essence of the spiritual life is to love God and to love people. Pride destroys our capacity to love.

Talk to a man about himself and he will listen for hours.

In an individualistic culture, the narcissist is God's gift to the world. In a collectivist society, the narcissist is God's gift to the collective.

The reason why so few people are agreeable in conversation is that each is thinking more about what he intends to say than others are saying.

The funny thing about the people I don't like - they're very self-centered.

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.

You shouldn't inflict yourself on the public when your fifteen minutes is up.

I have known Eto'o since I was 16 and since then I always liked him. He is a good person, but he always thinks of himself and not the group.

Remember: ego can create misery, ego can create anguish, ego can create hate, ego can create jealousy. Ego can never become a vehicle for the divine, it can never become the passage for the beyond.

I think some people, when they get a certain ego, they lose sense of whatever.

One thing which makes us find so few people who appear reasonable and agreeable in conversation is, that there is scarcely any one who does not think more of what he is about to say than of answering precisely what is said to him.

Many people come into company full of what they intend to say in it themselves, without the least regard to others; and thus charged up to the muzzle are resolved to let it off at any rate.

Only vain people wage war against the vanity of others.

The problem is that ego can convert anything to its own use, even spirituality.

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

Most people dislike vanity in others, whatever share they have of it themselves.

Your first realization when you become an important person is that all day and all night, whatever the circumstances, people want to hear you talk about yourself.

Egocentrics are attracted to the inept. It gives them one more excuse for patting themselves on the back.

There are dull and bright, sacred and profane, coarse and fine egotists. It is a disease that, like influenza, falls on all constitutions. In the distemper known to physicians as chorea, the patient sometimes turns round, and continues to spin slowly in one spot. Is egotism a metaphysical varioloid of this malady?

Egotism is a kind of buckram that gives momentary strength and concentration to men, and seems to be much used in Nature for fabrics in which local and spasmodic energy is required.

Really life is about narcissism; no one is ever thinking about you much. You always think people are thinking about you way more than they are.

With this ego arises all the problems, the thousand and one problems. This ego will not allow you to fall in love and millions of problems will arise in your life. This ego would like everybody to surrender to you; this ego will not allow you to surrender to anybody - and love happens only when you surrender. When you force somebody to surrender, it is hate, destruction, it is not love.

We never could clearly understand how it is that egotism, so unpopular in conversation, should be so popular in writing.

We all know that the 'divine glory of the ego' is socially a great nuisance; we all do actually value our friends for modesty, freshness, and simplicity of heart. Whatever may be the reason, we all do warmly respect humility - in other people.