# Egoist vs. narcissist vs. ...? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egoist-vs-narcissist-vs/748063 "2016-03-05T23:59:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egoist-vs-narcissist-vs/748063/1 "2016-03-05T23:59:18Z")
> [@](#): > > [The narcissist wants to like others.](http://www.differencebetween.net/science/difference-between-narcissist-and-egotist/) He hardly knows about himself. He lives in an imaginary world. He cannot understand or cope up with other human beings. He is bothered about adoration, affirmation, love, applause, admiration and attention. An egotist is not happy with himself and other people. He doesn’t like his relationship with others. He is unhappy with the happenings around him. He feels that other people are great and he feels lonely and desires to achieve everything. So what about someone who has a large ego, but who is _not_ ‘bothered about adoration, affirmation, love, applause, admiration and attention’? What if he likes his relationships with others, and is happy in his life? People can be proud of their accomplishments, and they can have a large ego. (My ego is the size of a planet.) These people don’t really fit the quoted explanation of an egoist. Is there a name for this? ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egoist-vs-narcissist-vs/748063/2 "2016-03-06T03:38:03Z")
You, Johnny L.A., have what is known as high self-esteem. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egoist-vs-narcissist-vs/748063/3 "2016-03-06T05:33:26Z")
You’ve hit upon the difference between an egotist and an egoist. An egotist is a braggart, who is so lacking in genuine self-esteem that he has to get it from others, through constantly reminding them how great he is. Egotism is a type of narcissism. Donald Trump is an egotist. An egoist, on the other hand, knows his own self-value and sees himself as having certain qualities that deserve his own respect. He is genuinely self-assured and doesn’t really care what other people think of him. He has no need to brag or flaunt his superiority because being “superior” is not what he’s about. He doesn’t judge himself in relation to others, like the egotist does. An egoist rarely has a need to talk about himself; an egotist won’t shut up. As an ethical concept, egoism is the belief that people should live by rational self-interest. So in a philosophical context, an egoist is someone who advocates this position. The three philosophers who advocated egoism were: Friedrich Nietzsche, Ayn Rand (certainly you’ve read _The Fountainhead_) and Max Stirner (sort of). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egoist-vs-narcissist-vs/748063/4 "2016-03-06T06:10:35Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > You’ve hit upon the difference between an egotist and an egoist. :smack: I’d searched for ‘egoist’, and the image on the link says ‘egoist’, but I misread ‘egotist’ as ‘egoist’ in the text. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egoist-vs-narcissist-vs/748063/5 "2016-03-06T13:44:13Z")
Don’t let a little mistake like that interfere with your self-esteem. Anybody coulda done it.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egoist-vs-narcissist-vs/748063/6 "2016-03-06T15:11:25Z")
My humility is my big weakness. Other than that, I am perfect. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egoist-vs-narcissist-vs/748063/7 "2016-03-06T16:14:00Z")
My father-in-law is a full blown narcissist and exhibits every symptom to the nth degree. The biggest differences is the full blown narcissist is extremely selfish and self centered, and has zero empathy for other people, while an egotist can be just that yet also give a shit about others and or be a giving person.