“Death is a long process,” Archer says. “Your body is just the first part of you that croaks.” Meaning: beyond that, your dreams have to die. Then your expectations. And your anger about investing a lifetime learning shit and loving people and earning money, only to have all that crap come to basically nothing. Really, your physical body dying is the easy part. Beyond that, your memories must die. And your ego. Your pride and shame and ambition and hope, all that Personal Identity Crap can take centuries to expire.

Chuck Palahniuk, Damned

I know what happens when you take a life. You lose a part of yourself.

John Reese, Person of Interest

I like the moment when I break a man’s ego.

Bobby Fischer

I’m an artist and that means I can be as egoistical as I want to be.

Lou Reed

I think it’s pretentious to create art just for the sake of stroking the artists ego.

Lou Reed

What I want is to be needed. What I need is to be indispensable to somebody. Who I need is somebody that will eat up all my free time, my ego, my attention. Somebody addicted to me. A mutual addiction.

Chuck Palahniuk, Choke