Friday, August 3, 2012

Identity Crises




Humility, Ego, Identity.

"...But if you consider this in human terms, and you imagine a person defined by a desperation to be liked, what do you see? You see a person without integrity, without a centre. In more pathological cases, you see a narcissist - a person who can't tolerate the tarnishing of his or her self image that not being liked represents, and who therefore  either withdraws from human contact or goes to extreme, integrity sacrificing lengths to be likeable. If you dedicate your existence to being likable, however, and if you adopt whatever cool persona is necessary to make it happen, it suggests that you've despaired of being loved for who you really are, and if you succeed in manipulating other people into liking you, it will be hard not to feel, at some level, contempt for those people, because they've fallen for your shtick."
-Jonathan Franzen. New York Times

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