“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
“Self-love for ever creeps out, like a snake, to sting anything which happens to stumble upon it.”
George Gordon Lord Byron
“Narcissists gravitate towards professions where they can control people and elicit adulation. They are more likely to work in politics, finance or medicine than in shoemaking… They are aware of what they are doing to others— but they do not care.”
Sam Vaknin
