Quotes on Ego

Everything I do is somehow rooted in humanity. It's always about people; it's always about ego. It's always about desperation. It's quite existential. You know, 'Am I leading a good life?' That might be because I'm an atheist, and I think this is all we've got, so you better be nice. And have fun.

That which comes and goes, rises and sets, is born and dies is the ego. That which always abides, never changes, and is devoid of qualities is the Self.

In the hands of the ego, marriage is a prison. It is exclusive. It is a place where people are constantly reminded of their failures and limited by the energies of another person. It is rife with judgment and blame.

Love is the movement within life that carries us, that enables us, that causes us to break out of what Alan Watts calls the “skin-encapsulated ego.” Without love, we are self-centered, but love enables us to move the center of our lives outside our ego. Therefore it expands our lives and, needless to say, enriches it. Any human being would give anything to love or be loved. When it really happens, it is like heaven on earth.

Always, always, always referring every goddam thing that happens right back to our lousy little egos.

Life is a compromise of what your ego wants to do, what experience tells you to do, and what your nerves let you do.

The moralist is the person who tells people that they ought to be unselfish, when they still feel like egos, and his efforts are always and invariably futile.

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

Self-conceit may lead to self destruction.

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.

If you play more than two chords, you're showing off.

The welfare state is not really about the welfare of the masses. It is about the egos of the elites.

There is a wonderful ancient Sufi saying which I'm going to paraphrase slightly. It says, 'When the heart weeps for what it has lost,' in this case 'heart' means 'ego,' 'when the heart weeps for what it has lost, the spirit rejoices for what it has found.'

Gratitude _x000D_ is a sacred space where you allow and know that a force greater than _x000D_ your ego is always at work and always available.

You can either be a Host to God, or a Hostage to your ego!

No one has learned the meaning of living until he has surrendered his ego to the service of his fellow man. Service to others is akin to duty, the fulfillment of which brings true joy.

It's a constant man-ego-check going on in the streets, in this world.

Despite what you've been conditioned to believe, sexual desire is sacred and virtuous. When you and your beloved merge physically and emotionally, you go beyond the boundaries of the ego and experience timelessness, naturalness, playfulness and defenselessness .

Your worst enemy is hiding within yourself, and that enemy is your nafs or false ego.

You put two egos together and you've either got a conflict, which is always interesting, or better yet, a love affair.

To the ego, loving and wanting are the same, whereas true love has no wanting in it, no desire to possess or for your partner to change.