How hard it is for Americans, even Americans of goodwill, not to consider themselves the center of the universe.
—Simone de Beauvoir
The unhappy person resents it when you try to cheer him up, because that means he has to stop dwelling on himself and start paying attention to the universe. Unhappiness is the ultimate form of self-indulgence. When you’re unhappy, you get to pay a lot of attention to yourself. You get to take yourself oh so very seriously.
—Tom Robbins in Jitterbug Perfume
When science finally locates the center of the universe, some people will be surprised to learn they're not it.
—Bernard Bailey
Don't discuss yourself, for you are bound to lose; if you belittle yourself, you are believed; if you praise yourself, you are disbelieved.
—Michel de Montaigne
Good breeding consists of concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.
—Mark Twain