It is our ego that makes every one of us want to be different from others and, whatever the cost, to distinguish ourselves in some way — frankly, it matters little in what way. Our ego is the desire to gather for ourselves a greater share of the booty of life; to be in the right, even when we are in the wrong. It is our ego that gives rise to those monstrosities about which no one would dream of saying a bad word: jealousy, and competitiveness. It also gives rise to fanaticism, and to authoritarianism that likes to pass itself off as genuine authority. The ego is the seat of that power which seeks to estrange us one from another.
— Jacques Lusseyran, Against the Pollution of the I