“Narcissistic personality disorder is named for Narcissus, from Greek mythology, who fell in love with his own reflection. Freud used the term to describe persons who were self-absorbed, and psychoanalysts have focused on the narcissist’s need to bolster his or her self-esteem through grandiose fantasy, exaggerated ambition, exhibitionism, and feelings of entitlement.” ― Donald W. Black
“For the most part people are not curious except about themselves.” ― John Steinbeck
3. “The lion is most handsome when looking for food.” — Rumi
“You can teach a narcissist to show up on time, but you can’t train them to listen once they get there.” ― Dr. Ramani Durvasula
“Dear narcissus boy / I know you’ve never really apologized for anything / I know you’ve never really taken responsibility / I know you’ve never really listened to a woman / Dear me-show boy / I know you’re not really into conflict resolution / Or seeing both sides of every equation / Or having an uninterrupted conversation.” — Alanis Morissette
“Narcissus weeps to find that his Image does not return his love.” — Mason Cooley
“The mother gazes at the baby in her arms, and the baby gazes at his mother’s face and finds himself therein…provided that the mother is really looking at the unique, small, helpless being and not projecting her own expectations, fears, and plans for the child. In that case, the child would find not himself in his mother’s face, but rather the mother’s own projections. This child would remain without a mirror, and for the rest of his life would be seeking this mirror in vain.” ― Donald Woods Winnicott
“When I look at narcissism through the vulnerability lens, I see the shame-based fear of being ordinary. I see the fear of never feeling extraordinary enough to be noticed, to be lovable, to belong, or to cultivate a sense of purpose.” — Brené Brown
“There is simply no winning with a narcissist. He will treat you so horribly that you will become withdrawn and depressed and then he will turn around and say, ‘You’re no fun anymore, you’re always so depressed. I need to be with someone more positive.’” — Susan Williams
“Babies cry to get their needs met. Narcissists are great actors and often use tears as a tool of manipulations, this is an abuse tactic! Do not allow them to let this work as guilt, they are acting!” ― Tracy Malone
“Children of narcissists learn that love is abuse. The narcissist teaches them that if someone displeases you, it is okay to harm them and call it love.” ― M. Wakefield
“Americans are experiencing an epidemic in narcissistic behavior in a culture that is intrinsically self-conscious and selfish, and citizens are encouraged to pursue happiness and instant gratification of their personal desires.” ― Kilroy J. Oldster
“Often the narcissist believes that other people are “faking it”, leveraging emotional displays to achieve a goal. He is convinced that their ostensible “feelings” are grounded in ulterior, non-emotional motives. Faced with other people’s genuine emotions, the narcissist becomes suspicious and embarrassed. He feels compelled to avoid emotion-tinged situations, or worse, experiences surges of almost uncontrollable aggression in the presence of expressed sentiments. They remind him how imperfect he is and how poorly equipped.” ― Sam Vaknin
“That which he projects ahead of him as his ideal, is merely his substitute for the lost narcissism of his childhood - the time when he was his own ideal.” ― Sigmund Freud
“As individuals and as a nation, we now suffer from social narcissism. The beloved echo of our ancestors, the virgin America, has been abandoned. We have now fallen in love with our own image, with images of our making, which turn out to be images of ourselves.” ― Daniel J. Boorstin
“And we need to know what it is to be human if we are to avoid becoming narcissists.” ― Alexander Lowen
“Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important … They justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.” — T.S. Eliot
“We are to give (and take) true love without falling into the narcissistic habit of only trying to take it in.” ― Criss Jami
“I spend my life constantly calling in ‘imaginary’ debts that aren’t owed to me in order to avoid the ‘real’ debts that I owe to others, and so everybody ends up bankrupt.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough
“No other being is lesser human than the one who thinks of others as such.” ― Abhijit Naskar
“The worst lies were the lies I told myself about the lies others told me.” ― Alice Little
“Half the pain in human life comes from gazing in mirrors.” ― Marty Rubin
“When people are driving themselves crazy, they have neuroses or psychoses. When they drive other people crazy, they have personality disorders.” — Albert J. Bernstein
“The narcissist is like a bucket with a hole in the bottom: No matter how much you put in, you can never fill it up. The phrase “I never feel like I am enough” is the mantra of the person in the narcissistic relationship. That’s because to your narcissistic partner, you are not. No one is. Nothing is.” ― Dr. Ramani Durvasula
“Hate is the complement of fear and narcissists like being feared. It imbues them with an intoxicating sensation of omnipotence.” ― Sam Vaknin
“Love is intermittent reinforcement with spouses and children alike. The child is love-bombed when the narcissist feels the child reflects their false self. The moment the child fails to do so, the narcissistic parent blithely discards them.” ― M. Wakefield
27.“Playing the victim role: Manipulator portrays him- or herself as a victim of circumstance or of someone else’s behavior in order to gain pity, sympathy or evoke compassion and thereby get something from another. Caring and conscientious people cannot stand to see anyone suffering and the manipulator often finds it easy to play on sympathy to get cooperation.” ― George K. Simon Jr.
“I like to be admired from afar, and then complimented up close.” ― Gena Showalter
“Even though friends say they are interested in your life, they never really want to talk about you as much as you want them to.” ― Charise Mericle Harper
“If I encounter a toddler with a machete, I may feel worried about the toddler, but I still get out of the way so that I do not get hurt. In the process of taking care of their own needs, many people with NPD hurt those around them. They are swinging mental machetes — devaluing words and abusive actions. Punchline: I believe that Narcissists deserve our compassion, but compassion does not involve giving them permission to hurt other people or overlooking any damage that they do.” — Elinor Greenberg
“When a toxic person can no longer control you, they will try to control how others see you. The misinformation will feel unfair, but stay above it, trusting that other people will eventually see the truth just like you did.” – Jill Blakeway
“Please repair your narcissism before you start loving your neighbor as yourself.” ― Charles F. Glassman
“Emotionally, narcissists are like brick walls who see and hear others but fail to understand or relate to them. As a result of their emotional shallowness, narcissists are essentially devoid of all empathy or compassion for other people. Lacking empathy, a narcissist is a very destructive and dangerous person to be around.” ― Mateo Sol
“In such a self-centered society, many people have gone to the extreme of narcissism—being solely concerned about their own personal well-being and agendas while excluding and exploiting others. Narcissism is not only epidemic but is also a pandemic of our times that has been normalized and accepted. Self-serving, narcissistic people are incapable and unwilling to love due to a lack of authentic self and love for one’s self and others.” — Sepideh Irvani
“I understand perfectly because I’m in love with myself. The fact that I’m not transfixed in front of the nearest mirror takes a great deal of self-control.” ― Anne Rice
“You don’t believe that your friend could ever do anything great. You despise yourself in secret, even – no, especially – when you stand on your dignity; and since you despise yourself, you are unable to respect your friend. You can’t bring yourself to believe that anyone you have sat at table with, or shared a house with, is capable of great achievement. That is why all great men have been solitary. It is hard to think in your company, little man. One can only think ‘about’ you, or ‘for your benefit’, not ‘with’ you, for you stifle all big, generous ideas.” ― Wilhelm Reich
“Narcissists have poor self-esteem, but they are typically very successful. They feel entitled; they’re self-important; they crave admiration and lack empathy. They are also exploitative and envious. The malignant types never forget a slight. They may kill you ten years later for cutting them off in traffic. But they act perfectly normal while plotting their revenge.” — Janet M. Tavakoli
“The ‘I’ is the ego that we must avoid at any cost, if we truly wish to be different from narcissists. Instead of using ‘I’ repeatedly, it would be wise to replace it with ‘we’.” ― Mwanandeke Kindembo
“People with NPD have a strong need, in every area of their life, to be treated as if they’re special. To those with NPD, other people are simply mirrors, useful only insofar as they reflect back the special view of themselves they so desperately long to see. If that means making others look bad by comparison — say, by ruining their reputation at work — so be it. Because life is a constant competition, they’re also usually riddled with envy over what other people seem to have. And they’ll let you know.” ― Bandy X Lee
“The emptiness of the narcissist often means that they are only focused on whatever is useful or interesting to them at the moment. If at that moment it is interesting for them to tell you they love you, they do. It’s not really a long game to them, and when the next interesting issue comes up, they attend to that. The objectification of others—viewing other people as objects useful to his needs—can also play a role. When you are the only thing in the room, or the most interesting thing in the room, then the narcissist’s charisma and charm can leave you convinced that you are his everything. The problem is that this is typically superficial regard, and that superficiality results in inconsistency, and emotions for the narcissistic person range from intense to detached on a regular basis. This vacillation between intensity and detachment can be observed in the narcissist’s relationships with people (acquaintances, friends, family, and partners), work, and experiences. A healthy relationship should feel like a safe harbor in your life. Life throws us enough curve balls in the shape of money problems, work issues, medical issues, household issues, and even the weather. Sadly, a relationship with a narcissist can be one more source of chaos in your life, rather than a place of comfort and consistency.” ― Dr. Ramani Durvasula
“Withhold admiration from a narcissist and be disliked. Give it and be treated with indifference.” — Mason Cooley
“I wish that people would stop destroying other people just because they were once destroyed.” — Karen Salmansohn
“Narcissists would rather lie and humiliate you than to admit that they were in the wrong.” ― Mitta Xinindlu
“Narcissism is voluntary blindness, an agreement not to look beneath the surface.” — Sam Keen
“We seem incapable of being led by any but the monstrous. The malignant narcissist. And there are many willing to take the place of a deposed tyrant, to ape them. And the rest of us, down here, cannot discriminate in the choice of our leaders, even if we have anything resembling a real choice. We cannot lead ourselves rationally or humanely or fairly, so we choose the most unscrupulous and egotistical to lead us. Into one war and one holocaust after another.” ― Adam Nevill
“Narcissists withhold affection to punish you. Withhold attention to get revenge. And withhold an emotional empathetic response to make you feel insecure.” ― Alice Little
“Narcissism is a grave condition of insecurity and desperately feeling unloved and unacceptable. An individual with Narcissistic Personality Disorder inherently believes they are ‘damaged goods’ and fears other individuals will discover the truth: that they feel powerless. Thus the narcissist invests a great deal of energy into ‘gaining the upper hand’, to hide feeling vulnerable, insecure and broken. When they are getting what they want, the charm is flowing and plentiful. When the charm doesn’t work the intimidation begins. Narcissism is categorized as an unhealthy level of self-absorption and a lack of empathy regarding how their insecure, aggressive and damaging behavior affects the world around them.” — Melanie Tonia Evans
“When the healthy pursuit of self-interest and self-realization turns into self-absorption, other people can lose their intrinsic value in our eyes and become mere means to the fulfillment of our needs and desires.” ― P.M. Forni
“Whenever an occasion arose in which she needed an opinion on something in the wider world, she borrowed her husband’s. If this had been all there was to her, she wouldn’t have bothered anyone, but as is so often the case with such women, she suffered from an incurable case of of pretentiousness. Lacking any internalized values of her own, such people can arrive at a standpoint only by adopting other people’s standards or views. The only principle that governs their minds is the question “How do I look?”― Haruki Murakami
“Relationships with narcissists are held in place by hope of a ‘someday better,’ with little evidence to support it will ever arrive.” — Dr. Ramani Durvasula
“The spirit of arrogance most definitely makes you shine. It paints a bright red target on your own forehead.” ― Criss Jami
“Sadly, when many individuals realize that the narcissist is insecure and isn’t reassured, they try harder to love this person. Additionally, the narcissist blames his her behavior on something that you are or aren’t doing, and a hooked person we may try to ‘do it better’ or ‘get it right.’ Your increased efforts to love and fix the narcissist only lines you up for more abuse.” — Melanie Tonia Evans
“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.” — Oscar Wilde
“Relationship with a narcissist in a nutshell: You will go from being the perfect love of their life, to nothing you do is ever good enough. You will give your everything and they will take it all and give you less and less in return. You will end up depleted, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and probably financially, and then get blamed for it.” — Bree Bonchay
“He’s satisfied with himself. If you have a soul you can’t be satisfied.” ― Graham Greene
“I am a recovering narcissist. I thought narcissism was about self-love till someone told me there is a flip side to it. It is actually drearier than self-love; it is unrequited self-love.” — Emily Levine
57.“A narcissist paints a picture of themselves as being the victim or innocent in all aspects. They will be offended by the truth. But what is done in the dark will come to light. Time has a way of showing people’s true colors.” – Karla Grimes
“If you want to go from being adored to devalued in the blink of an eye, simply insult the narcissist.” — Tigress Luv
“Everyone thinks they’re entitled to their 15 minutes of fame. And it’s that narcissism that makes people, who have no business writing a book, think they can write a book.” ― Oliver Markus Malloy
“But both the narcissist and his partner do not really consider each other. Trapped in the moves of an all-consuming dance macabre, they follow the motions morbidly - semiconscious, desensitized, exhausted, and concerned only with survival.” ― Sam Vaknin
“Realize that narcissists have an addiction disorder. They are strongly addicted to feeling significant. Like any addict they will do whatever it takes to get this feeling often. That is why they are manipulative and future fakers. They promise change, but can’t deliver if it interferes with their addiction. That is why they secure back up supply.” ― Shannon L. Alder
“Observe well how the word ‘narcissism’ is often used into marriages. The victims are often those who have separated with their significant other, rather than being on good terms with them. Therefore, we must dig deeper to the core of the word and discover its true meaning. In return, we will get a glimpse of our mentality and the main attributes that drive us to label each other with that conflicted word.” ― Mwanandeke Kindembo
“Parents are supposed to give the child back to herself with love. If they’ve got duct tape over their eyes because of narcissism, it doesn’t happen.” — Jane Fonda
“Have you ever been in a relationship with an individual who demands your attention incessantly and becomes depressed, sulky and even full of rage if your attention goes elsewhere? This is one of the earliest warning signs of a narcissist. Please understand healthy adults do not behave in such a way. This is where people who know the difference turn their back and walk away; they know that any person ringing them 10 times a day and demanding attention is not well. Unfortunately, many individuals, as I did, can mistake (or delude ourselves) that this high need for attention means we’re loved, missed and adored, or maybe we felt wrong in leaving or speaking up, as a result of our own deficient boundary function. Please be assured, this is not love; it’s the deadly calling card of the narcissist.“ — Melanie Tonia Evans
“In this situation, what we call natural ethics has nothing to offer but the narcissistic satisfaction of being able to think one is better than others. This is where ethics based on religion enters the scene with its promises of a better life hereafter. I am inclined to think that, for as long as virtue goes unrewarded here below, ethics will preach in vain.” ― Sigmund Freud
“Narcissists have poorly regulated self-esteem, so they are chronically vulnerable. If they are vulnerable then there is the threat that they may get found out, so they often maintain a grandiose exterior. Because they always measure themselves by other people, they also measure themselves against other people. They are chronically reliant on the opinions of others to form their own sense of self and are always comparing themselves, their status, their possessions and their lives to other people to determine their sense of worth and self-esteem (in a way, narcissists outsource their sense of self).” ― Dr. Ramani Durvasula
“Narcissists are consumed with maintaining a shallow false self to others. They’re emotionally crippled souls that are addicted to attention. Because of this they use a multitude of games, in order to receive adoration. Sadly, they are the most ungodly of God’s creations because they don’t show remorse for their actions, take steps to make amends or have empathy for others. They are morally bankrupt.” ― Shannon L. Alder
“Since narcissists deep down feel themselves to be faultless, it is inevitable that when they are in conflict with the world they will invariably perceive the conflict as the world’s fault.” — M. Scott Peck
“How starved you must have been that my heart became a meal for your ego.” — Amanda Torroni
“No matter how socially skilled an extreme narcissist is, he has a major attachment dysfunction. The extreme narcissist is frozen in childhood.” — Samuel Lopez de Victoria
“I wonder if the course of narcissism through the ages would have been any different had Narcissus first peered into a cesspool. He probably did.” ― Frank O’Hara
“Pathological narcissists can lose touch with reality in subtle ways that become extremely dangerous over time. When they can’t let go of their need to be admired or recognized, they have to bend or invent a reality in which they remain special despite all messages to the contrary.” ― Bandy X Lee
“What are narcissists looking for, after all? Just someone at their level that they can feel superior to.” ― Luigina Sgarro
“Love doesn’t die a natural death. Love has to be killed, either by neglect or narcissism.” — Frank Salvato
“Where there is much pride or much vanity, there will also be much revengefulness.” ― Arthur Schopenhauer
“I don’t care what you think unless it is about me.” ― Kurt Cobain
“For some, life may be a playground to undermine the brainwaves of others or simply a vainglorious game with an armory of theatrics, illustrating only bleak self-deception, haughty narcissism and dim deficiency in empathy.” ― Erik Pevernagie
“Healthy levels of narcissism and self-enhancement are necessary, with a low level of self-enhancement being detrimental to our wellbeing and success.” ― Theresa Jackson
“The main condition for the achievement of love is the overcoming of one’s narcissism. The narcissistic orientation is one in which one experiences as real only that which exists within oneself, while the phenomena in the outside world have no reality in themselves, but are experienced only from the viewpoint of their being useful or dangerous to one. The opposite pole to narcissism is objectivity; it is the faculty to see other people and things as they are, objectively, and to be able to separate this objective picture from a picture which is formed by one’s desires and fears.” ― Erich Fromm
“Narcissism falls along the axis of what psychologists call personality disorders . . . but by most measures, narcissism is one of the worst, if only because the narcissists themselves are so clueless.” — Jeffrey Kluger
“The narcissist would love nothing more than to know you are eating uncooked Top Ramen out of a dumpster for dinner tonight while wearing yesterday’s underwear.” — Tina Swithin
“Ego is borne of the need to ‘prove’ oneself instead of making the choice to ‘be’ oneself.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough
“The only crime is pride.” ― Sophocles
“Narcissists are precisely that: careless. They barrel through life, using relationships and people as objects, tools, and folly. While they often seem as if they are cruel or harsh, that is in fact giving them too much credit. They are simply careless. And they do expect other people to clean up their messes. But carelessness is cruel. Frankly, the motivation for their behavior does not matter; what matters is the outcome. And that outcome is damage to other people’s well-being, hopes, aspirations, and lives. Carelessness captures it, but it is not an excuse.” ― Dr. Ramani Durvasula
“Imagine the infant who one day cries and gets fed, and the next day cries and goes hungry. One day smiles and is kissed and hugged. The next day smiles and is ignored. This is what psychologists called ‘preoccupied or unresolved attachment’ with the primary caregiver–usually the mother. There was love one minute and disdain the next. Affection that was given in abundance for no reason and then taken away without cause. The child has no ability to predict or influence the behavior of the parent. The narcissist loves a child only as an extension of herself at first, and then as a loyal subject. So she will tend to the child only when it makes her feel good.” ― WendyWalker
“I have a very simple question to people who seem to suffer from excessive narcissism: Please name three other persons who are smarter and more capable than you, in the field you work in. In most cases they are utterly unable to answer that question honestly.” — Ingo Molnar
“For all his inner suffering, the narcissist has many traits that make for success in bureaucratic institutions, which put premium on the manipulation of interpersonal relations, discourage the formation of deep personal attachments, and at the same time provide the narcissist with the approval he needs in order to validate his self-esteem.” ― Christopher Lasch
“You consider yourself your most fascinating subject.” ― Britt Bennett
“Narcissus does not fall in love with his reflection because it is beautiful, but because it is his. If it were his beauty that enthralled him, he would be set free in a few years by its fading.” — W.H. Auden
“The narcissist devours people, consumes their output, and casts the empty, writhing shells aside.” — Sam Vaknin
“A current pejorative adjective is narcissistic. Generally, a narcissist is anyone better looking than you are, but lately the adective is often applied to those ’liberals’ who prefer to improve the lives of others rather than exploit them. Apparently, a concern for others is self-love at its least attractive, while greed is now a sign of the hightest altruism. But then to reverse, periodically, the meanings of words is a very small price to pay for our vast freedom not only to conform but to consume.” ― Gore Vidal
“Narcissistic love is riding on the rollercoaster of disaster filled with a heart full of tears.”— Sheree Griffin
“But that’s the thing about narcissists. They can try to fool you, with all their heart, but in the end, they’re just fooling themselves.” ― Ellie Fox
“Some people seem like a bright light during your darkest moment… a beautiful refuge… but it’s a trap… there is only more pain there. Now that I think about it… I imagine that’s what bugs feel like when they fly into the zapper.” ― Steve Maraboli
“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
“She could feel him, glaring at her with a psychotic look in his eyes, taking pleasure in her suffering, using it to fuel his next move.” ― Arti Manani
“Anybody who wishes to go beyond the free-will of another person is already practising narcissistic characteristics.” ― Mwanandeke Kindembo
“There was nothing more unattractive than narcissism, she thought: nothing could transform beauty into a cloying, unattractive quality than that self-conscious appreciation of self.” — Alexander McCall Smith
“A narcissist paints a picture of themselves as being the victim or innocent in all aspects. They will be offended by the truth. But what is done in the dark will come to light. Time has a way of showing people’s true colors.” — Karla Grimes
“Love without sacrifice is like theft.” ― Nassim Nicholas Taleb
“The faculty to think objectively is reason; the emotional attitude behind reason is that of humility. To be objective, to use one’s reason, is possible only if one has achieved an attitude of humility, if one has emerged from the dreams of omniscience and omnipotence which one has as a child. Love, being dependent on the relative absence of narcissism, requires the developement of humility, objectivity and reason.I must try to see the difference between my picture of a person and his behavior, as it is narcissistically distorted, and the person’s reality as it exists regardless of my interests, needs and fears.” ― Erich Fromm
“I loved myself and since I loved me, I loved him because I realized he was good for me. A type of self worth, a type of narcissistic love.” ― Dominic Riccitello
“A culture of narcissism is not a place where love can flourish. The emergence of “me” culture is a direct response to our nation’s failure tot truly actualize the vision of democracy. While emotional needs are difficult, and often impossible to satisfy, material desires are easier to fulfill.” ― Bell Hooks
“Daughters of narcissistic mothers absorb the message “I am valued for what I do, rather than for who I am.” ― Karyl McBride
“Nobody can be kinder than the narcissist while you react to life on his terms.” — Elizabeth Bowen
“Every generation narcissistically believes they are the greatest generation.” ― Brien Pittman
“Beware of narcissistic people. They’ll tell everyone you’re crazy, only to cover up their trickery. ” ― Mitta Xinindlu
“An abuser’s psychological diagnosis isn’t the problem. Their sense of entitlement is.” ― Caroline Abbott
“I’m too ugly to be a narcissist.” ― Mitch Albom
“Self-love for ever creeps out, like a snake, to sting anything which happens … to stumble upon it.” ― George Gordon Noel Byron
“In a narcissist’s world you are not their one and only. You are an extension of that person and last place in their mind, while they secure back up narcissistic supply.” ― Shannon L. Alder
“Here too, we can see that not being open to learning something new does not automatically make someone a narcissist. In fact, a narcissist is required to be more knowledgeable in many fields; mostly in psychology.” ― Mwanandeke Kindembo
“What a sick, narcissistic society must be we to reward relatability more than credibility?” ― Adeel Ahmed Khan
“A false image is, of course, a work of art, an idol. And a lie. A narcissist identifies with this image, not his true inner self. So, all he cares about is his image, not what kind of person he really is. Indeed, the latter has no real existence in his world. In identifying with his image, he’s identifying with an ephemeral figment that has but virtual reality, a purely immanent existence as a reflection in the attention shone on him by others. No attention, no image. No image, no self!” ― Kathy Krajco
“Adults raised in narcissistic homes cling to the fantasy that they can somehow manipulate or control their parent/family of origin system to get the recognition and approval they require (that is, to get their needs met.) They had this fantasy as children, and they maintain it as adults. The reality, though, is that they had little control over their parent system as children and have little control over it now.” ― Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman
“You might as well bang your head into a brick wall if you expect the narcissist to be reasonable, empathetic or human in any way. If you sense or witness any of these traits, there is an ulterior motive. When the narcissist is being nice, it’s because they have something to gain.” — Tina Swithin
“White feminist narcissism has no truck with the idea that we are anything but victims.” ― Alison Phipps
“All narcissists are self-obsessed, but malignant narcissists are at the top of the scale. They have a pathological self-belief—a sense of grandiosity, even—which demands attention and admiration. They’re convinced they’re special in some way and want other people to acknowledge it as well. Crucially, they’re also sadists who lack any conscience. They don’t necessarily get fulfillment from inflicting pain, but they enjoy the sense of power it gives them. And they’re indifferent to any suffering they might cause.” ― Simon Beckett
“The constant, obvious flattery, contrary to all evidence, of the people around him [Tsar Nicholas I] had brought him to the point that he no longer saw his contradictions, no longer conformed his actions and words to reality, logic, or even simple common sense, but was fully convinced that all his orders, however senseless, unjust, and inconsistent with each other, became sensible, just, and consistent with each other only because he gave them.” ― Leo Tolstoy
“Every narcissist is a hero and a legend in his own mind.” ― Oscar Auliq-Ice
“Some people think that the world revolves around them but even the Sun is not the center of the Universe.” ― Halle Teart
“Narcissists are emotional porcupines, watch out for the quills!” ― Tracy A. Malone
“The ultimate obscenity is not caring, not doing something about what you feel, not feeling! Just drawing back and drawing in, becoming narcissistic.” ― Rod Serling
“In a society that dreads old age and death, aging holds a special terror for those who fear dependence and whose’ self-esteem requires the admiration usually reserved for youth, beauty, celebrity, or charm. The usual defenses against the ravages of age—identification with ethical or artistic values beyond one’s immediate interests, intellectual curiosity, the consoling emotional warmth derived from happy relationships in the past—can do nothing for the narcissist. Unable to derive whatever com-fort comes from identification with historical continuity, he finds it impossible, on the contrary, to accept the fact that a younger generation now possesses many of the previously cherished gratifications of beauty, wealth, power and, particularly, creativity. To be able to enjoy life in a process involving a growing identification with other people’s happiness and achievements is tragically beyond the capacity of narcissistic personalities.” ― Christopher Lasch
“There’s a reason narcissists don’t learn from mistakes and that’s because they never get past the first step which is admitting that they made one.” — Jeffrey Kluger
“The question ‘How are you (doing)?’ is the most common way of indirectly saying ‘Ask me how I am (doing)’.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“Out of all the addictions in the world, Attention is slowly but surely becoming one of the most dangerous.” ― Saahil Prem
“It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love.” ― Voltaire
“Narcissism and self-deception are survival mechanisms without which many of us might just jump off a bridge.” – Todd Solondz
“When narcissists behave in an exhibitionistic manner, they are seeking the same sort of admiration as toddlers, and for the same reasons. They want attention. Some examples include inappropriate dress, talking too loudly, or gesturing in expansive and space-intruding ways.” — Mark Ettensohn
“His arrogance is going to bury whatever parts of him which survived the death of his pretentiousness.” ― Niedria Dionne Kenny
“The main priority of everyone surrounding a highly narcissistic person is to ensure that they are looking after themselves, maintaining their own mental and physical health and wellbeing, before looking after the narcissist.” ― Theresa Jackson
“Individuality should not translate to narcissism. Realizing the strength of individuality is an accomplishment while being narcissistic is a failure.” ― Amitav Chowdhury
“And think about the precise meaning of that term: a Narcissus is not proud. A proud man has disdain for other people, he undervalues them. The Narcissus overvalues them, because in every person’s eyes he sees his own image, and wants to embellish it. So he takes nice care of all his mirrors.” ― Milan Kundera
“There’s the appeal of the young thief who robs you, and climbs back down off your cloud. It’s possible to love that boy, in a wistful and hopeless way. It’s possible to love his greed and narcissism, to grant him that which is beyond your own capacities: heedlessness, cockiness, a self-devotion so pure it borders on the divine.” ― Michael Cunningham
“In the narcissist’s world being accepted or cared for (not to mention loved) is a foreign language. It is meaningless or even repellent. One might recite the most delicate haiku in Japanese and it would still remain utterly meaningless to a non-speaker of Japanese. This does not diminish the value of the haiku or of the Japanese language, needless to say. But it means nothing to the non-speaker.Narcissists damage and hurt but they do so offhandedly and naturally, as an afterthought…They are aware of what they are doing to others - but they do not care.” ― Sam Vaknin
“For someone as amazing as you, attention is like food, and you’re always hungry.” ― Seth McDonough
“By aggrandizing one’s own abilities and achievements, the grandiose person remains out of touch with who they truly are and as such, remains prone to crossing the boundaries of others.” ― Steven Franssen
“Narcissistic personality disorder and other personality disorders are different than psychiatric patterns considered more “syndromal,” like major depression. Personality disorders are patterned ways of responding to the world and of responding to one’s inner world. Under times of stress these patterns become even stronger. Because they are patterns, they are also predictable. These patterns reside in the narcissist, not you, but their patterns cause a great deal of disruption in their relationships with everyone around them.” ― Dr. Ramani Durvasula
“A man who loves others based solely on how they make him feel, or what they do for him, is really not loving others at all — but loving only himself.” — Criss Jami
“The biggest impediment to loving life is our inflated egos. Only by suppressing our ego and controlling our selfish thoughts can we truly comprehend the immaculate beauty of every day unfolding before us.” ― Kilroy J. Oldster
“Defined simply, narcissism means excessive self-preoccupation; pragmatism means excessive focus on work, achievement, and the practical concerns of life; and restlessness means an excessive greed for experience, an overeating, not in terms of food but in terms of trying to drink in too much of life…And constancy of all three together account for the fact that we are so habitually self-absorbed by heartaches, headaches, and greed for experience that we rarely find the time and space to be in touch with the deeper movements inside of and around us.” ― Ronald Rolheiser
“No one has probably helped me more with my narcissism than my dog.” ― Tucker Max
“Many victims of narcissistic abuse are hypersensitive. They don’t want to be told by others that they wrong when they fight with their narcissist. They see it as standing up for themselves, when in reality it is perpetuating what the narcissist wants ― drama and a reaction.” ― Shannon L. Alder
“Narcissists, however, are similar to a spider that has built a web for its prey to bring itself.” ― Mwanandeke Kindembo
“But the line between moral behavior and narcissistic self-righteousness is thin and difficult to discern.” ― Dean Koontz
“I was trapped in an awful spiral of insecure narcissism.” ― Amy Poehler
“Yes, Eleanor loathed herself and yet required praise, which she then never believed.”― Hanif Kureishi
“Don’t confuse between self-love and narcissism. Self- love is making yourself your number one priority but narcissism is start enforcing that priority over others. First one is healthy; second one is not. First one is for your mental healthiness and well-being while the second one is to mess up with other peoples’ peace of mind to serve your own needs.” ― Gracia Hunter
“Narcissism is, indeed, the new world order.” ― Dr. Ramani Durvasula
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