The more self-involved I become, the more I focus on what I want, need, would like, the smaller I get, the less I really matter to the great scheme of things.
“Are you complete in yourself? [The root] answers, “No, my life is in the trunk and the branches and the leaves. Keep the branches stripped of leaves and I shall die.” So it is with the great tree of being. Nothing is completely and merely individual.” Edward Everett (1794 – 1865) US statesman, orator.
“You must never lose the awareness that in yourself you are nothing, you are only an instrument. An instrument is nothing until it is lifted.” Kathryn Hulme (1900 – 1981) US writer. The Nun’s Story, Ch. 8, 1956.
“A day wasted on others is not wasted on one’s self.” Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870) English novelist, dramatist.
“A man who is not a fool can rid himself of every folly except vanity.” Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778) French philosopher, educational reformer, author.
“A person wrapped up in himself makes a small package.” Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878 – 1969) U.S. clergyman.
“An egotist is a self-made man who worships his creator.” John Bright (1811 – 1889) English politician, orator.