The scale of the success you need is determined by the intensity of your self-hatred - Alain de Botton, http://twitter.com/alaindebotton
The only thing that sustains one through life is the consciousness of the immense inferiority of everybody else, and this is a feeling that I have always cultivated - Oscar Wilde
The keenest sorrow is to recognise ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities - Sophocles
That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong - William JH Boetcker
Shame has a short memory - Gabriel Garcia Marquez, In Evil Hour, p109
Self-respect is the fruit of discipline: the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself - Abraham Heschel - HeartMath
Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting - William Shakespeare
Passive acceptance of the teacher's wisdom is easy to most boys and girls. It involves no effort of independent thought, and seems rational because the teacher knows more than his pupils; it is moreover the way to win the favour of the teacher unless he is a very exceptional man. Yet the habit of passive acceptance is a disastrous one in later life. It causes man to seek and to accept a leader, and to accept as a leader whoever is established in that position - Bertrand Russell
Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish - Sam Walton (1918-92)
One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important - Bertrand Russell