The egotist is all surface; underneath is a pulpy mess and a lot of self-doubt. But the egoist may be yielding and even deferential in things he doesn't consider important; in anything that touches his core he is remorseless.

I’m an egotist, but I’m not selfish. There’s a difference. I’m a neurotic, I guess. I can’t stop thinking about myself. It isn’t that I think myself so important... I simply can’t think about anything else, that’s all. If I could fall in love with a woman that might help some. But I can’t find a woman who interests me.

EGOTIST, n. A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me.

Эгоист всегда и всюду одинок. Его душа никогда не томится любовью, страданием, постоянством; она безжизненна и холодна и нуждается во сне и покое не больше, чем мертвец. Умеющий любить редко бывает одинок, а когда он одинок, он доволен.

"It is a curious psychological fact that the man who seems to be "egotistic" is not suffering from too much ego, but from too little. When the ego is strong and well developed, there is no nagging need to impress others — by money, by rudeness, or by any other show of false strength."

Just because I'm choosy about what I want - in this case, enlightenment, or peace, instead of money or prestige or fame or any of those things - doesn't mean I'm not as egotistical and self-seeking as everybody else.

i was perhaps an egotist in youth, but i soon found it made me morbid to think too much about myself

The ego is what drives a self-serving individual who hates to admit they are wrong.

Do I need this? Or is it really about ego?

Sometimes you need your ego. If you can control it correctly, it can be the difference between excellence and greatness.

Conscience makes egotists of us all.

The feeling that we call “I” is itself the product of thought. Having an ego is what it feels like to be thinking without knowing that you are thinking.

Eu sou egoísta, impaciente e um pouco insegura. Eu cometo erros, eu estou fora de controle e às vezes difícil de lidar. Mas se você não pode lidar comigo no meu pior, então com certeza não me merece no meu melhor.

Question: You seem to advise me to be self-centered to the point of
egoism. Must I not yield even to my interest in other people?

Maharaj: Your interest in others is egoistic, self-concerned, self-
oriented. You are not interested in others as persons, but only
as far as they enrich, or enoble your own image of yourself.
And the ultimate in selfishness is to care only for the protection,
preservation and multiplication of one's own body. By body I
mean all that is related to your name and shape — - your family,
tribe, country, race, etc. To be attached to one's name and
shape is selfishness. A man who knows that he is neither body
nor mind cannot be selfish, for he has nothing to be selfish for.
Or, you may say, he is equally 'selfish' on behalf of everybody
he meets; everybody's welfare is his own. The feeling 'I am the
world, the world is myself' becomes quite natural; once it is es-
tablished, there is just no way of being selfish. To be selfish
means to covet, to acquire, accumulate on behalf of the part
against the whole.

I Am That

Nisargadatta Maharaj