Politicians are often driven by the ego, so are artists. Artists like to be approved, artists like to be applauded. All of us too we are in search of the satisfaction of knowing that what we’re doing is being recognised and respected, and applauded. The danger is, of course, that if this becomes the overriding, dominant motivation – that I just want people, or the majority of people to like me – then we may be very ruthless in how we achieve that, very short-sighted. And this is one of the dangers of the ego when it isn’t operating properly in terms of its original function – then the ego becomes a tyrant. And in dictators and tyrants, in abusers, people who torture others, in ruthless people who are pursuing power, we can see that the ego is uncontrolled, the ego has become the master. And the ego, in effect, has become the substitute for the true self.
( The Brick Wall of the Ego 1 by Laurence Freeman OSB )
