Narcissism Quotes - Page 6

• If spirituality is not religion or cynicism or sentimentality or narcissism, then what is it?... we can confidently say... that spirituality is fearlessness. It is a way of looking boldly at this life we have been given, here, now, on earth, as this human being.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Earth, Way, Spirituality

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• Self-awareness is not self-centeredness, and spirituality is not narcissism. 'Know thyself' is not a narcissistic pursuit.

  Marianne Williamson

  Love, Inspirational, Forgiveness

  Mother Jones Magazine, Volume 22, No. 6, November - December 1997.

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• Only man is a narcissistic enough species to think that a highly evolved alien life force would travel across billions and billions of light-years- a group of aliens so intelligent, so insouciant, so utterly above it all, they feel no need whatsoever to equip their spacecraft with windows so that they can gaze out on all that celestial beauty-but then immediately upon landing, their first impulse is to get in some hick's ass with a flashlight.

  Dennis Miller

  Intelligent, Men, Thinking

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• Leaving traces of ourselves, as in creative productivity, could then be seen as part of the definition of consciousness for us as well. We know that in order to progress we must stretch for something just out of reach--if only for a life that will be more compassionate and decent than the cruelty, paranoia, greed, narrow corporatism, or narcissism we mostly indulge in and find such ample justification for. And so we dream.

  Breyten Breytenbach

  Dream, Order, Indulge In

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• It is a form of generational narcissism to change texts to suit one's own needs.

  Luke Timothy Johnson

  Needs, Suits, Form

  Luke Timothy Johnson (2007). “The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why it Matters”, p.85, Image

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• To listen only to records is a sin of narcissism. It is important to hear live music, in concert, which is a source of emotions that a record can never convey.

  Joaquin Rodrigo

  Important, Records, Emotion

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• It's also that comedians don't have the kind of narcissism that actors have. They're writers who perform their own material. It's more interesting. And they're sexy because they risk more. Stand-up comedians risk more than anyone.

  Rachel Weisz

  Sexy, Interesting, Risk

  Interview with Emma Forrest, www.indexmagazine.com. 2001.

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• Most of us like thinking we are God's only children...At least one of the purposes of church is to remind us that God has other children, easily as precious as we. Baptism and narcissism cancel each other out.

  Barbara Brown Taylor

  Children, Thinking, Baptism

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• There's a kind of journalistic narcissism that New York-based journalists are guilty of.

  Bernard Goldberg

  New York, Kind, Guilty

  "Bernie Goldberg on New York Times Editor Insulting the Eucharist and Media Hype of Hurricane Irene". "The O'Reilly Factor", www.foxnews.com. August 29, 2011.

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• Then they both smiled the exact same smile. Narcissism times two. Oh, get a room already.

  Devon Monk

  Two, Rooms

  Devon Monk (2010). “Magic at the Gate: An Allie Beckstrom Novel”, p.22, Penguin

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• Individualism? Narcissism? Of course. It is my strongest tendency, the only intentional constancy [fidelity] I am capable of.... Besides, I am lying; I scatter myself too much for that.

  Claude Cahun

  Lying, Too Much, Individualism

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• A dead language is not only one no longer spoken or written, it is unyielding language content to admire its own paralysis. Like statist language, censored and censoring. Ruthless in its policing duties, it has no desire or purpose other than maintaining the free range of its own narcotic narcissism, its own exclusivity and dominance. However moribund, it is not without effect for it actively thwarts the intellect, stalls conscience, suppresses human potential. Unreceptive to interrogation, it cannot form or tolerate new ideas, shape other thoughts, tell another story, fill baffling silences.

  Toni Morrison

  Ideas, Silence, Desire

  Nobel Prize for Literature Lecture, delivered 7 December 1993

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• Narcissism and Christianity have little in common, yet the Romantic paradigm of artistic creativity, particularly in light of subsequent Freudian ideas, has tended to foster its share of narcissism. It was the tragic fate of Narcissus that he was so preoccupied with self that he could not appreciate God, nature, or the other.

  John Walford

  Creativity, Fate, Light

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• The clarity of gender makes possible the human dialectic. Let the lines of balanced tension go slack and the structure dissolves into the ooze of androgyny and narcissism.

  Bill Vaughan

  Men, Lines, Clarity

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• It is in an artist's real interest to congratulate herself more often: not out of narcissism, but in her role as her own dear friend and advocate.

  Eric Maisel

  Encouragement, Real, Artist

  Eric Maisel (1996). “Affirmations for Artists”, Tarcher

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• For me narcissism is not about money. For me, narcissism is something so romantic and something so human. Everybody is a narcissist. Some people admit it and some people don't. As an artist, it's important to be a narcissist. Look at Picasso, look at Warhol.... As an artist, you can get away with a lot of things that normal people cannot.

  Nir Hod

  Artist, People, Important

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

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• [Donald] Trump's behavior during the presidential campaign was often erratic, seemingly based on discernable personality traits, including narcissism, arrogance, impulsiveness, and a lack of predictability.

  David Krieger

  Presidential, Personality, Arrogance

  Source: www.counterpunch.org

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• I no longer see Descartes' statement as arbitrary. It is representative of our culture's narcissism. This narcissism leads to a disturbing disrespect for direct experience and a negation of the body.

  Derrick Jensen

  Disrespect, Culture, Arbitrary

  Derrick Jensen (2012). “The Derrick Jensen Reader: Writings on Environmental Revolution”, p.19, Seven Stories Press

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• I have a fear right now that what I call the advertising-narcissism complex is sucking up way too much top talent.

  Scott D. Anthony

  Too Much, Way, Talent

  Source: bobmorris.biz

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• Cynicism was a school in Greece - the Cynics. Diogenes is a famous Cynic. There was a strong belief in nihilism and narcissism. Those are old schools too.

  Oliver Stone

  Strong, School, Nihilism

  Source: www.avclub.com

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• It's entirely possible to function as a free-thinking individual without succumbing to narcissism. This can be tricky at times, I suppose, but then so can the tango - particularly if you're dancing alone.

  Tom Robbins

  Thinking, Dancing, Individual

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• The nobility of the human spirit grows harder for me to believe in. War, zealotry, greed, malls, narcissism. I see a backhanded nobility in excessive, impractical outlays of cash prompted by nothing loftier than a species joining hands and saying “I bet we can do this.” Yes, the money could be better spent on Earth. But would it? Since when has money saved by government red-lining been spent on education and cancer research? It is always squandered. Let’s squander some on Mars. Let’s go out and play.

  Mary Roach

  War, Cancer, Believe

  Mary Roach (2011). “Packing for Mars”, p.174, Oneworld Publications

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• This story ["The Depressed Person"] was the most painful thing I ever wrote. It's about narcissism, which is a part of depression. The character has traits of myself. I really lost friends while writing on that story, I became ugly and unhappy and just yelled at people. The cruel thing with depression is that it's such a self-centered illness - Dostoevsky shows that pretty good in his "Notes from Underground". The depression is painful, you're sapped/consumed by yourself; the worse the depression, the more you just think about yourself and the stranger and repellent you appear to others.

  David Foster Wallace

  Writing, Character, Thinking

  Translation of the Zeit Online interview, www.thehowlingfantods.com. January 26, 2007.

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• If I had it to do all over again . . . I wouldn't change a thing.'. . . the final expression of narcissism, the last gesture of self-congratulation.

  Steve Erickson

  Congratulations, Self, Expression

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• If post-punk enterprise suggested that pop music could establish a fierce skittishness, an aggressive self-irony, that would enable it to transcend its manufactured state, video narcissism announces that pop has found an easy way to steal more cash from young people and damage their natural desires.

  Paul Morley

  Self, People, Desire

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