The ego is necessary for existence. Without it how would we appear, be made known in the world? Flesh and bone alone will not do, for it is the spirit of mankind that drives being. A person who has transcended the physical makes this point very clear. Their body is there. They are not.
Here is Freud:
"The ego is that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world ... The ego represents what may be called reason and common sense, in contrast to the id, which contains the passions ... in its relation to the id it is like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse; with this difference, that the rider tries to do so with his own strength, while the ego uses borrowed forces." [Freud, The Ego and the Id (1923)]
What seems vitally important is knowing that I am not all there is, that others too exist and from time to time, more often than not, deference to the other is necessary for our growth and theirs. There is no building larger than self. Humility (which is not void of confidence or excellence) is a most beautiful trait to cultivate for it balances the ego.
4 comments:
Poet David Whyte once said, and I paraphrase, 'One day you will wake up and realize that the other people in your lives are not characters in a book'. Your post made me think of that. Still, there are an awful lot of characters out there that it is almost incomprehensible to imagine that they are real. Yet they are, and, like your post about Ted Stevens, they are wreaking havoc of the most vile kind. I like your blog.
What a beautiful quote, catvibe. Thank you for the reminding me, although I should not have to be reminded. A friend, who is way to the right, just forwarded me an email from a "prophet" that is just completely full of the most despicable underpinning divisivenss imaginable.
It is a clearly divisive piece of fearmongering wrapped in the "righteousness" of God. It is indeed hard to conceive that these people are not characters in a book. But the reality is, I know quite a few of them.
I'm glad you like the blog. Do pop in again and with more quotes. That would be cool!
Better, I'll put you on my blog roll.
Thanks! I'll check out your blog soon!
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