120 Ego Quotes Examining Pride, Confidence and Purpose

Our latest collection of ego quotes that will help you stay balanced.

A huge ego is your worst enemy.

An inflated ego can lead you astray and ruin your life.

It can destroy your relationships, prevent you from recognizing opportunities, and inhibit true success.

Granted, we all need self-esteem and confidence to win in this world.

But when confidence becomes arrogance, you risk ruining everything you’ve worked hard to build.

If you allow your ego to take over, it can get in the way of living your life to its fullest.

The good news is, you can stop it from bringing you down by adopting the beginner’s mindset, focusing on doing your best, and choosing purpose over passion.

Instead of letting early pride lead you astray, remind yourself how much work is left to be done, not how much you have done.

It’s okay to take pride in achievements or position but remember that nobody gets to the top alone.

To help you stay balanced, below is our collection of inspirational, wise, and thought-provoking ego quotes, ego sayings, and ego proverbs, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

Also, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily wisdom. 

See the rest of our quote database for even more inspirational ideas and thoughts.

Ego quotes examining pride, confidence and purpose

According to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, individuals with high narcissism and self-centeredness may struggle with interpersonal relationships and experience adverse life outcomes.

This highlights the potential pitfalls of having a big ego.

1. “If someone corrects you, and you feel offended, then you have an ego problem.” ― Nouman Ali Khan

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2. “The weak are dominated by their ego, the wise dominate their ego, and the intelligent are in a constant struggle against their ego.” ― Hamza Yusuf

3. “You have no choice. You must leave your ego on the doorstep before you enter love.” ― Kamand Kojouri

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4. “The first product of self-knowledge is humility,” Flannery O’Connor once said. This is how we fight the ego, by really knowing ourselves.” ― Ryan Holiday

5. “The ego is the false self-born out of fear and defensiveness.” ― John O’Donohue

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6. “Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.” ― Colin Powell

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7. “I don’t know about your true form, but the weight of your ego sure is pushing the crust of the earth toward the breaking point.” ― Jim Butcher

8. “Being efficient is the easy part. Suppressing one’s ego completely for hours at a time is really hard.” ― Colin Clark

9. “Being a control freak is a weakness, not a strength. If you can’t allow others to shine, you’re exhibiting signs of narcissism and showing a lack of self-confidence. It is isolation through ego.” ― Stewart Stafford

10. “The more you can have control over your ego rather than let it run amuck, the more successful you’ll be in all areas of life.” ― Roy T. Bennett

Ego quotes to help you learn more and work harder

A survey conducted by Forbes found that 82% of hiring managers reported that humility is a valuable trait in job candidates.

This highlights the importance of reducing ego and displaying humility in professional settings.

11. “The minute you start compromising for the sake of massaging somebody’s ego, that’s it, game over.” ― Gordon Ramsay

12. “Part of me suspects that I’m a loser, and the other part of me thinks I’m God Almighty.” ― John Lennon

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13. “Food for the ego is poison for the soul.” ― Donna Goddard

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14. “The ego relies on the familiar. It is reluctant to experience the unknown, which is the very essence of life.” ― Deepak Chopra

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15. “She is pretending like she doesn’t miss you, you’re pretending you don’t give a damn, ego is a hell of a drug.” ― Nitya Prakash

15. “Chasing a person doesn’t give you value or build values in you. You earn your value by chasing morality and practicing dignity.” ― Shannon L. Alder

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16. “A man’s spirit is his self. That entity which is his consciousness. To think, to feel, to judge, to act are functions of the ego.” ― Ayn Rand

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17. “Enlightenment is ego’s ultimate disappointment.” ― Chögyam Trungpa

18. “Bullying happens because weak people need to prop up their ego by beating up or humiliating others.” ― Bruce Dickinson

19. “How to get rid of ego as a dictator and turn it into messenger and servant and scout, to be in your service, is the trick.” ― Joseph Campbell

20. “A conscious human is driven by their conscience, not popular opinion.”― Suzy Kassem

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Ego quotes to help you stay humble

21. “But us women, well, we like our egos stroked every once in a while and a boy mourning over us is a huge boost” ― J.L. Paul

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22. “I am sufficiently proud of my knowing something to be modest about my not knowing all.” ― Vladimir Nabokov

23. “When I pass, speak freely of my shortcomings and my flaws. Learn from them, for I’ll have no ego to injure.” ― Aaron McGruder

24. “Never take advice about never taking advice. That is an old vice of men – to dish it out without being able to take it – the blind leading the blind into more blindness.” ― Criss Jami

25. “The Ego is a veil between humans and God. In prayer all are equal.” ― Rumi

26. “Besides, nothing makes one so vain as being told that one is a sinner. Conscience makes egotists of us all.” ― Oscar Wilde

27. “The Divine Light is always in man, presenting itself to the senses and to the comprehension, but man rejects it.” ― Giordano Bruno

28. “If you’re jealous of someone else it simply means you have not come to a true acceptance and appreciation of yourself.” ― Rasheed Ogunlaru

29. “Why do you give way to your ego and pride. Where does it stand in the ocean of time.” ― Naveen Rajeev

30. “The Spirit is as much a jealous lover as the ego. Both guard their path with an uncompromising passion but for very different reasons.” ― Donna Goddard

Ego quotes to help you stay balanced

31. “Never allow your ego to diminish your ability to listen.” ― Gary Hopkins

32. “You bruised my ego, you see, and there’s just not enough money in the world to soothe my ego when it gets bruised” ― Jennifer Estep

33. “An exceedingly confident student would, in theory, make a terrible student. Why would he take school seriously when he feels that he can outwit his teachers?” ― Criss Jami

34. “No matter what we talk about, we are talking about ourselves” ― Hugh Prather

35. “The most beautiful women I have known had one thing in common apart from beauty: humility. It’s a shame that those with less to boast about doing it the most.” ― Donna Lynn Hope

36. “Midlife is the time to let go of an overdominant ego and to contemplate the deeper significance of human existence.” ― Carl Gustav Jung

37. “The worst disease which can afflict executives in their work is not, as popularly supposed, alcoholism; it’s egotism.” ― Robert Frost

38. “Whenever ego suffers from fear of death & your practice turns to seeing impermanence, ego settles down.” ― Tsoknyi Rinpoche

39. “The ego is like a clever monkey, which can co-opt anything, even the most spiritual practices, so as to expand itself.” ― Jean-Yves Leloup

40. “Great people have great egos; maybe that’s what makes them great.” ― Paul Arden

More ego quotes to inspire and teach

41. “The greatest win is walking away and choosing not to engage in drama and toxic energy at all.” ― Lalah Delia

42. “Some little pieces of sand are so full of ego that they see themselves as a giant rock! But then the wind blows, the big ego flies in the air!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

43. “Marriage is the union of two ‘I’s to form a ‘V’. Both ‘I’s have to tilt equally to make a good ‘V’. ‘I’s standing tall can never make a ‘V’.” ― Ashok Kallarakkal

44. “You never really learn much from hearing yourself speak.” ― George Clooney

45. “Forget the self and you will fear nothing, in whatever level of awareness you find yourself to be.” ― Carlos Castaneda

46. “The ego hurts you like this: you become obsessed with the one person who does not love you. blind to the rest who do.” ― Warsan Shire

47. “Don’t allow the pride, ego, and insecurities of others stunt your growth.” ― Yvonne Pierre

48. “Being aware is being aware of one’s own mind and the games it plays on itself.” ― Robin Macnaughton

49. “The fool who thinks he’s god will rather quickly discover that he is not, which simply means that the person who was fooled by the fool is none other than the fool himself.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough

50. “Not everybody has that non-self-humility, not everybody has that existence-self-ego.” ― Saroj Aryal

Thought-provoking ego quotes

51. “Make your ego porous. Will is of little importance, complaining is nothing, fame is nothing. Openness, patience, receptivity, solitude is everything.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke

52. “If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that… I believe in what I do, and I’ll say it.” ― John Lennon

53. “There are two circumstances that lead to arrogance: one is when you’re wrong and you can’t face it; the other is when you’re right and nobody else can face it.” ― Criss Jami

54. “If a man thinks he is not conceited, he is very conceited indeed.” ― C.S. Lewis

55. “The moment you become aware of the ego in you, it is strictly speaking no longer the ego, but just an old, conditioned mind-pattern. Ego implies unawareness. Awareness and ego cannot coexist.” ― Eckhart Tolle

56. “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.” ― Erich Fromm

57. “Or, rather, let us be more simple and less vain.” ― Rousseau Jean-Jacques

58. “She was a wicked thing sometimes. All full of want. As if the shape of the world depended on her mood. As if she were important.” ― Patrick Rothfuss

59. “People reject what they do not understand because it makes them feel small. They would rather believe in some other reality, even if it is only an illusion, so long as it makes them feel bigger.” ― Suzy Kassem

60. “If we are to grow in love, the prisons of our egoism must be unlocked. This implies suffering, constant effort and repeated choices.” ― Jean Vanier

More insightful ego quotes to think about

61. “When any man is more stupidly vain and outrageously egotistic than his fellows, he will hide his hideousness in humanitarianism.” ― George Moore

62. “If the egotist is weak, his egotism is worthless. If the egotist is strong, acute, full of distinctive character, his egotism is precious, and remains a possession of the race.” ― Alexander Smith

63. “I have never seen a greater monster or miracle than myself.” ― Michel de Montaigne

64. “Egotism is the anesthetic which nature gives us to deaden the pain of being a fool.” ― Dr. Herbert Shofield

66. “Ego trip: a journey to nowhere.” ― Robert Haif

67. “Our ego is our silent partner-too often with a controlling interest.” ― Cullen Hightower

68. “Egotism is usually subversive of sagacity.” ― Marianne Moore

69. “An egotist is not a man who thinks too much of himself; he is a man who thinks too little of other people.” ― Joseph Fort Newton

70. “To men and women who want to do things, there is nothing quite so driving as the force of an imprisoned ego…. All genius comes from this class.” ― Mary Roberts Rinehart

Short Ego Quotes To Help Lower Ego

71. “Always keep your ego in check and not be afraid to listen. Listening is a great art form.” — Clint Eastwood

72. “When the ego dies, the soul awakes.” — Mahatma Gandhi

73. “Egotism sucks us down like the law of gravity.” — Cyril Connolly

74. “Be capable of negating your ego.” — Robert Greene

75. “Receive without pride, let go without attachment.” — Marcus Aurelius

76. “Drop ego and listen. Empathize.” — Naval Ravikant

77. “Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.” — Andrew Murray

78. “Ego is about who’s right. Truth is about what’s right.” — Mike Maples Jr

79. “Ego takes everything personally.” — Eckhart Tolle

80. “Ego is the enemy.” — Ryan Holiday

Ego Quotes About How It Feels Like

81. “The ego is a vital tool to our existence in the world. It guards the body and the mind to ensure that we acquire for ourselves what is essential for our survival.” ― Remi Meyer

82. “If you get your ego in your way, you will only look to other people and circumstances to blame.” ― Jocko Willink

83. “Your ability to realize your potential will depend upon your willingness to hone your skills, to take bold risks, and to put your ego on the line in pursuit of something greater.” ― Jocelyn K. Glei

84. “Genuine ego relaxation will make you less egocentric, more real, and more capable of walking the path substantially, facing whatever arises within you and within life from a place of spiritual maturity.” ― Miranda Macpherson

85. “Ego is neither good nor bad, it’s just a result of a lack of self-awareness. It fades away as you become aware of it, since ego and awareness cannot coexist.” ― Thibaut Meurisse

86. “It is impossible for the ego to feel the suffering of the soul. It only lives for itself. Its major source of satisfaction is being right.” ― Lise Bourbeau

87. “I work really hard at trying to see the big picture and not getting stuck in ego.” ― Ellen DeGeneres

88. “Quieting the mind is a method of doing away with ego, for so long as the ego is in control there can not be real communion with God.” ― Balkrishna Naipaul

89. “Yep, we can all learn plenty from each other – even those we think don’t know as much as we do – if we can just set our egos aside.” ― John Penberthy

90. “Most arguments are not really disagreements but are rather little ego battles and misunderstandings.” ― Stephen Covey

Ego Quotes To Swallow Your Pride

91. “Ego is just like a dust in the eyes… without clearing the dust you can’t see anything clearly… so clear the ego and see the world.” ― Sukh Sandhu

92. “A bad day for your ego is a great day for your soul.” ― Jillian Michaels

93. “The secret to happiness is a small ego. And a big wallet. Good wine helps, too. But that’s not really a secret, is it?” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

94. “You believe your opinions,- you believe your judgments,- you believe your emotions. And these beliefs become your ego— but this ego is not you.” ― Ezra Bayda

95. “Analysis does not set out to make pathological reactions impossible, but to give the patient’s ego freedom to decide one way or another.” ― Sigmund Freud

96. “I like to dress egos. If you haven’t got an ego today, you can forget it.” ― Gianni Versace

97. “Your ego screams for people to acknowledge you. But you must do nothing. Take it. Eat it until you’re sick. Endure it. Quietly brush it off and work harder.” ― Ryan Holiday

98. “An average man is egoistic, proud and has strong self-esteem.They always require partners who massage their ego not those who will drag their ego to the mud.” ― Agu Jaachynma N. E.

99. “Once you let go nothing dies, only the ego. You remain for ever and ever.” ― Osho

100. “Only in your ego are you alone.” ― Brendon Burchard

Ego Quotes to Elevate Your Consciousness

101. “Sleep just gives the ego a little time out. It has to stay strong in order to be something that it isn’t.” ― Byron Katie

102. “The ego is always looking to find something. The Spirit can see what’s already there.” ― Marianne Williamson

103. “The ego is a false sense based on mental concepts. It is identification with the body and the mind-primarily identification with thought form.” ― Eckhart Tolle

104. “We must go beyond the constant clamor of ego, beyond the tools of logic and reason, to the still, calm place within us: the realm of the soul.” ― Deepak Chopra

105. “Get your egos off the battlefield.” ― Charlie Sheen

106. “Attachment is the root cause of all misery. Possessiveness is nourishment for the ego.” ― Rajneesh

107. “Practice radical humility when it comes to your own accomplishments, and give credit everywhere except to your ego.” ― Wayne Dyer

108. “Buddhism helps us to overcome our endless ego grasping mind to open up to something so much more spacious and genuinely meaningful.” ― Tenzin Palmo

109. “The experience of the self is always a defeat for the ego.” ― Carl Jung

110. “The ego is not only the unobserved mind, the voice in the head which pretends to be you, but also the unobserved emotions that are the body’s reaction to what the voice in the head is saying.” ― Eckhart Tolle

111. “Altruism, according to Comte, implies “the elimination of selfish desire and of egocentrism, as well as leading a life devoted to the well-being of others.” ― Mattheiu Ricard

112. “Your own power along with your Control Thought can guide you to control your ego.” ― Roy F. Messier

113. “Remain humble and grateful for all your accomplishments, and know that a force greater than your ego is always at work in your life.” ― Wayne Dyer

114. “In sum, meditation empowers you to tap into what lies beneath or beyond the ego.” ― Dan Harris

115. “You are not yet who you are supposed to be. Instead of living with an ego that is outward-driven and based on other people’s approval, we’re going to discover how to live with an altar ego.” ― Craig Groeschel

116. “Here’s the gift of gratitude: In order to feel it, your ego has to take a backseat. What shows up in its place is greater compassion and understanding.” ― Oprah Winfrey

117. “You must learn how you keep ego going in place of self. This is the “how” of ego.” ― Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

118. “This state is also referred to as the “quiet mind,” where the constant chatter of the ego subsides and we are completely present.” ― Alain Herriott

119. “I fed my ego, but not my soul.” ― Yakov Smirnoff

120. “Ego is a social fiction for which one person at a time gets all the blame.” ― Robert Anton Wilson

Which of these ego quotes was your favorite?

Ego can be a source of so much worry, anxiety and suffering.

If left uncontrolled, it can bring you down like the law of gravity.

Don’t let ego tell you that you have arrived and figured it all out.

Instead, remain humble and remind yourself how much you don’t know.

We hope the ego quotes above will help you combat this darker side of our psyche.

Did you enjoy these ego quotes?

Which of the quotes was your favorite?

Let us know in the comment section below.

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