Thoughts from Ryan Holiday’s book on Ego:
One might say that the ability to evaluate one’s own ability is the most important skill of all. Without it, improvement is impossible. And certainly ego makes it difficult every step of the way. It is certainly more pleasurable to focus on our talents and strengths, but where does that get us? Arrogance and self-absorption inhibit growth. So does fantasy and “vision.”

“Be slow in deliberation but be prompt to carry out your resolve.”
-Isocrates

“Egotism: The art of seeing in yourself what others cannot see.”
-George Higgins

“Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.”
-Lao Tzu

We seem to think that silence is a sign of weakness. That being ignored is tantamount to death – and for the ego, this is true. Silence is strength. Silence is the respite of the confident and strong.
Talk depletes us – talking and doing compete for the same resources. Success requires a full 100% of our effort, and talk flitters part of that effort away before we can use it. The only relationship between work and chatter is that one kills the other.

“Most of us know how to say nothing; few of us know when.”
-Anonymous

“An egotist is not a man who thinks too much of himself; he is a man who thinks too little of other people.”
-Joseph Fort Newton

“Silence is a true friend that never betrays.”
-Confucius

“Our ego is our silent partner – too often with controlling interest.”
-Cullen Hightower

“An educated man is one who knows a lot and says nothing about it.”
-Gracie Fields

“Egotism is the anesthetic which nature gives us to deaden the pain of being a fool.”
-Dr. Herbert Shofield

“You can often profit by being at a loss for words.”
-Frank Tyger

“Ego trip: a journey to nowhere.”
-Robert Half