Self-Esteem

Most people with low self-esteem have earned it. - Anon

...and act like they are the best.

Unusual <> Exceptional

The weirder you are going to behave, the more normal you should look. It works in reverse, too. When I see a kid with three or four rings in his nose, I know there is absolutely nothing extraordinary about that person. - P.J. O'Rourke


Unusual doesn't equate to exceptional.

Getting Behind

I don't want people to kiss my ass, I just want to get to the point where they can't kick it. - Michael J. Fox


All of us are better off left alone.

Mining The Past

Those who mine history for sins are not searching for truth but for opportunities to denigrate their own society, or for grievances that can be cashed in today, at the expense of people who were not even born when the sins of the past were committed. - Thomas Sowell

  Another example of those who push others down to make themselves appear elevated.

Treading

When you tread water, you lift yourself up by pushing water down. Likewise, in any social hierarchy, people unsure of their own position will try to emphasize it by maltreating those they think rank below. I've read that this is why poor whites in the United States are the group most hostile to blacks. - Paul Graham


I've always felt people put others down in order to improve their status. Mr. Graham seems to think it is to maintain their position. Perhaps he is right.

Flawed

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. - Eleanor Roosevelt


If you consent to feel inferior only you can remedy the flaw.

Swagger, Conceit, Esteem

Self-esteem is different than conceit. Conceit is the weirdest disease in the world. It makes everyone sick except the one who has it. - Hartman Rector, Jr.

Swagger is the outward sign of conceit, which is a sure-fire symptom of low self-esteem.

 

Sad Truth

The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous. - Shana Alexander


Only the incompetent and the insecure get nervous.

Self Value

If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price. - Anonymous


But if your bid is too high nobody is interested!

Misery Should Be Unequal

Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.  - Calvin Coolidge 


Help make the weak stronger. There is no glory in making misery equal.


(Other posts on Success) 

You Are Not Safe

Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. - Frederick Douglass 


Though I imagine he was thinking about the majority conspiring against a minority the same is true of the majority being oppressed by the concept of the "common good."


(Other posts on Rights) 

Hypocritical Humility

Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose the former and have seen no reason to change. - Frank Lloyd Wright 


Seems to have worked for him.


(Other posts on Honesty) 

Snarl for Peace

That they may have a little peace, even the best dogs are compelled to snarl occasionally. - William Feather 

If they don't they are just an underdog.


(Other posts on Respect) 

Rejecting Acceptance

Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgment of the facts of a situation. Then deciding what you're going to do about it. - Kathleen Casey Theisen


There are those who do not understand this - they reject in order to maintain their perceived self esteem.


(More posts on Superiority) 

Grave Wisdom

You must not think me necessarily foolish because I am facetious, nor will I consider you necessarily wise because you are grave. - Sydney Smith 


Life should be fun.


(Other posts on Life) 

Convincing Others

Convincing yourself doesn't win an argument. - Robert Half


Similarly, convincing yourself that you are God's gift to the world doesn't convince the world.


(Other posts on Superiority) 

Keeping a Level Head

Always hold your head up, but be careful to keep your nose at a friendly level. - Max L. Forman

Especially if you are a Presidential candidate.

Looking On The Level

People who look down on other people don't end up being looked up to. - Robert Half

Ignore those that look down on you. Don't give them the pleasure of even a glance. Likewise, plan on being ignored if you look down on someone.

Noble Creatures

That man is the noblest creature may also be inferred from the fact that no other creature has yet contested this claim. - Georg C. Lichtenberg

What about cats? They're wrong of course.

Superior Nobility

There is nothing noble about being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self. - Hindu Proverb

I'm confused. Are the reformed bar-flys then to think of themselves as more noble than the constantly productive?