A man’s self is his mind—the faculty that perceives reality, forms judgments,
chooses values.
The self you have betrayed is your mind; self-esteem is reliance on one’s
power to think. The ego you seek, that essential “you” which you cannot
express or define, is not your emotions or inarticulate dreams, but your
intellect, that judge of your supreme tribunal whom you’ve impeached in order
to drift at the mercy of any stray shyster you describe as your “feeling.”
Your self is your mind; renounce it and you become a chunk of meat ready for
any cannibal to swallow.
The most selfish of all things is the independent mind that recognizes no
authority higher than its own and no value higher than its judgment of truth.