Not selfishness, but precisely the absence of a self. Look at them. The man who cheats and lies, but preserves a respectable front. He knows himself to be dishonest, but others think heโs honest and he derives his self-respect from that, second-hand. The man who takes credit for an achievement which is not his own. He knows himself to be mediocre, but heโs great in the eyes of others.
Ayn RandDo not make the mistake of the ignorant who think that an individualist is a man who says: โIโll do as I please at everybody elseโs expense.โ An individualist is a man who recognizes the inalienable individual rights of manโhis own and those of others.
Ayn Rand