“The ego is the false self-born out of fear and defensiveness.”

—  John O'Donohue

Source: Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The ego is the false self-born out of fear and defensiveness." by John O'Donohue?
John O'Donohue photo
John O'Donohue44
Irish writer, priest and philosopher 1956–2008

Related quotes

Aga Khan IV photo

“If our animosities are born out of fear, then confident generosity is born out of hope.”

Aga Khan IV (1936) 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailism

Address by His Highness the Aga Khan to the Tutzing Evangelical Academy Upon Receiving the "Tolerance" Award, Tutzing, Germany (20 May 2006)<!-- DEAD LINK http://www.akdn.org/speeches/200506_Tutzing.htm -->
Context: If our animosities are born out of fear, then confident generosity is born out of hope. One of the central lessons I have learned after a half century of working in the developing world is that the replacement of fear by hope is probably the single most powerful trampoline of progress.

Swami Vivekananda photo

“Bless people when they revile you. Think how much good they are doing by helping to stamp out the false ego.”

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) Indian Hindu monk and phylosopher

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach photo

“Dealing with egotists is so corrupting because we gradually fall into their mistakes out of self-defense.”

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830–1916) Austrian writer

Der Umgang mit einem Egoisten ist darum so verderblich, weil die Notwehr uns allmählich zwingt, in seine Fehler zu verfallen.
Source: Aphorisms (1880/1893), p. 45.

Quintus Curtius Rufus photo

“When the truth cannot be clearly made out, what is false is increased through fear.”
Ubi explorari vera non possunt, falsa per metum augentur.

Quintus Curtius Rufus Roman historian

IV, 10, 10.
Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedonis Libri Qui Supersunt, Book IV

Baba Hari Dass photo

“Q: How do you define ego? A: Ego is life. To keep the body's existence is ego. It is the part of the mind which identifies a creature with the world. Ego self tells you, “This is my body,” and also tells you, “This is my Self.” It connects the two.”

Baba Hari Dass (1923–2018) master yogi, author, builder, commentator of Indian spiritual tradition

Source: Silence Speaks, from the chalkboard of Baba Hari Dass, 1977, p.15

Steve Wozniak photo

“Our first computers were born not out of greed or ego, but in the revolutionary spirit of helping common people rise above the most powerful institutions.”

Steve Wozniak (1950) American inventor, computer engineer and programmer

Mario Cuomo photo

“It was anticipating self-defense.”

Mario Cuomo (1932–2015) American politician, Governor of New York

On why he once hit a catcher in the face mask while playing minor league baseball, CBS TV (December 30, 1984)

“Love is a false synonym for propagation, as the soul is a wish fulfillment creation growing out of self-preservation.”

Henry Kuttner (1915–1958) American author

The Devil You Know (originally published in Unknown Fantasy Fiction, August 1941), p. 67
Short fiction, No Boundaries (1955)

John Mayer photo

“Songs can be Trojan horses, taking charged ideas and sneaking past the ego's defenses and into the open mind.”

John Mayer (1977) guitarist and singer/songwriter

Esquire magazine (November 1, 2004)

Related topics