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title: Abandon your ego
created: 2024-11-18T09:18:12
modified: 2025-08-29T08:30:45
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> _“Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory.” — Bruce Lee_

> _“The main cause of our unhappiness is that we identify so strongly with the ego.” — Tenzin Palmo_

> _[“When you show yourself to the world and display your talents, you naturally stir all kinds of resentment, envy, and other manifestations of insecurity.” — Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/199026-when-you-show-yourself-to-the-world-and-display-your)_

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[Ego 自我評價；自我中心；自負；自尊心](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/zht/%E8%A9%9E%E5%85%B8/%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E-%E6%BC%A2%E8%AA%9E-%E7%B9%81%E9%AB%94/ego)

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≈ Expose your ego.

≈ Put your ego aside.

≈ Leave your ego at the door.

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Ego is not your Amigo.

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Get small – Littleness – The sense of transcendence that makes us small

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面子是這個世界上最不值錢的東西。

* 有人為了愛面子，不願意與他人學習請教，失去了成長的機會。
* 有人為了愛面子，不願意與他人應對互動，失去了良好的人緣。
* 有人為了愛面子，把錢花在奢侈的物質上，失去了用錢的效率。

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One of the great mistakes in life is suffering for years because you didn’t want to feel foolish for five minutes.

* You don’t want to apologize, so you let a relationship deteriorate.
* You’re scared of the sting of rejection, so you don’t ask for what you want.
* You fear people will say your idea is dumb, so you never start the business.

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# [“Keep Your Identity Small” by Paul Graham](https://paulgraham.com/identity.html)

> _Politics, like religion, is a topic where there’s no threshold of expertise for expressing an opinion. All you need is strong convictions/beliefs, and anyone can have those._

> _I think what religion and politics have in common is that they become part of people’s identity, and people can never have a fruitful argument about something that’s part of their identity._

> _So it’s not politics that’s the source of the trouble, but identity. When people say a discussion has degenerated into a religious war, what they really mean is that it has started to be driven mostly by people’s identities._

> _The more labels you have for yourself, the dumber they make you._

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# [“I assume I’m below average” by Derek Sivers](https://sive.rs/below-average)

> _Now I just assume I’m below average._

> _It serves me well. I listen more. I ask a lot of questions. I’ve stopped thinking others are stupid. I assume most people are smarter than me._

> _To assume you’re below average is to admit you’re still learning. You focus on what you need to improve, not your past accomplishments._

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# #TODO [David Foster Wallace’s Commencement Speech “This Is Water”](https://fs.blog/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/) [^1]

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## See Also

* [The Beginner Mindset](the-beginner-mindset.md)

[^1]: [The Speech That Changed How I See the World \| The Curiosity Chronicle](https://www.sahilbloom.com/newsletter/the-speech-that-changed-how-i-see-the-world)