"The real opposition is that between the ego-bound man, whose existence is structured by the principle of having, and the free man, who has overcome his egocentricity."
Ego quotes
Ego
1.3K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Topics related to Ego
Browse quotes that often appear alongside ego — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Ego quotes (page 5 of 67)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"I surrounded myself with people who indulged my ego. They treated me as though I was Ziggy Stardust or one of my characters, never realising that David Jones might be behind it."
"The ego promotes turmoil because it wants to substantiate your separateness from everyone, including God. It will push you in the direction of judgment and comparison, and cause you to insist on being right and best. You know your highest self by listening to the voice that only wants you to be at peace."
"Ego is just a feeling of having a wall between you and others. There is no wall. You belong to me and I belong to you. You are accepted the way you are."
"Questing... is not an ego trip; it is an adventure to bring into fulfillment your gift to the world, which is yourself."
"There comes a time when the bubble of ego is popped and you can’t get the ground back for an extended period of time. Those times, when you absolutely cannot get it back together, are the most rich and powerful times in our lives."
"The pest of society are the egotist, they are dull and bright, sacred and profane, course and fine. It is a disease that like the flu falls on all constitutions."
"The ego is not master in its own house."
"Very unconscious people experience their own ego through its reflection in others. When you realize that what you react to in others is also in you (and sometimes only in you), you begin to become aware of your own ego."
"You're the only one who knows when you're using things to protect yourself and keep your ego together and when you're opening and letting things fall apart, letting the world come as it is - working with it rather than struggling against it. You're the only one who knows."
"The biggest ego trip is getting rid of your ego, and of course the joke of it all is that your ego does not exist."
"Openness, patience, receptivity, solitude is everything."
"Love liberates. It doesn't just hold, that's ego. Love liberates."
"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.'"
"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."
"It is not difficult to destroy Islam. Islam is the pumped up ego of a megalomaniac psychopath. Muhammad was a narcissist madman. Just as a huge balloon can be deflated by a small needle, all it takes to make Islam explode is to ridicule its loony inventor and its brainless followers."
"When war is not just it is subsequently justified; so it becomes many things. In reality, an unjust war is merely piracy. It consists of piracy, ego and, more than anything, money. War is our century's prostitution."
"As a piece of rope, when burnt, retains its form, but cannot serve to bind, so is the ego which is burnt by the fire of supreme Knowledge."
"What about Beck?" "Backwoods Boy? Are you crazy? It'd be a threesome - me, him and his overbearing ego. Definitely doomed to failure."
"The decision to make the present moment into your friend is the end of ego."