conceit

No man was ever so much deceived by another as by himself.

The art of making much show with little substance.

Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.

She would be one of those who kneel to their own shadows till feet grow on their knees; then go down on their hands till their hands grow into feet; then lay their faces on the ground till they grow into snouts; when at last they are a hideous sort of lizards, each of which believes himself the best, wisest, and loveliest being in the world, yea, the very centre of the universe. And so they run about for ever looking for their own shadows that they may worship them, and miserable because they cannot find them, being themselves too near the ground to have any shadows; and what becomes of them at last, there is but one who knows.

In contrast to your usual minions, I imagine, I__ a bit more awed by your conceit and arrogance than I am by your supposed magnificence.

I was accused of always acting superior. Always means being, not acting.

Just because you're beautiful and perfect, it's made you conceited.

Pride destroys a man quicker than ignorance.

Arrogant men with knowledge make more noise from their mouth than making a sense from their mind.

Patriotism is the narcissism of countries.

This dog is mine," said those poor children; "that is my place in the sun." Here is the beginning and the image of the usurpation of all the earth.

That melting pot stuff was always more about what this country wanted to believe about itself than the way people really felt.

God might awaken that heart, supine and stupefied with self-indulgence, and remove the film of sensual darkness from his eyes, but I could not.

If a man thinks he is not conceited, he is very conceited indeed.

...But even then you have to reckon with a criminal's chief vice.''What is that?'' Conceit. A criminal never believes that his crime can fail.

However strange it may well seem, to do one's duty will make any one conceited who only does it sometimes. Those who do it always would as soon think of being conceited of eating their dinner as of doing their duty. What honest boy would pride himself on not picking pockets? A thief who was trying to reform would. To be conceited of doing one's duty is then a sign of how little one does it, and how little one sees what a contemptible thing it is not to do it. Could any but a low creature be conceited of not being contemptible? Until our duty becomes to us common as breathing, we are poor creatures.

I just believe that someday I'll meet a person who'd describe me from the side as thoroughly and eloquently as I can do it.

Consider an achievement accidental if it is not coupled with modesty. Because if the achiever had endeavoured for it, it would certainly have killed their pride.