--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the ego likes to emphasize the…" description: "\"“ the ego likes to emphasize the 'otherness' of others ”\" — Eckhart Tolle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/339/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-likes-to-emphasize-the-otherness_1417401.jpg" --- # the ego likes to emphasize the 'otherness' of others ![“the ego likes to emphasize the 'otherness' of others” quote by Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/339/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-likes-to-emphasize-the-otherness_1417401.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/339/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-likes-to-emphasize-the-otherness_1417401.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/339/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-likes-to-emphasize-the-otherness_1417401.jpg) > ““ the ego likes to emphasize the 'otherness' of others ”” [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The ego emphasizes others' otherness, creating separation. **In simple terms:** Ego makes us see people as different. Key Takeaway Practice seeing common humanity. Themes ego otherness separation mindfulness Mood calm insightful Type spiritual psychological When to use this quote - meditation - conflict resolution - team building - personal growth Key Concepts Non‑duality self‑identity psychological projection Questions to Reflect On - How does ego create division? - What practices reduce ego‑driven otherness? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex identities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Egotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/egotism/) [Otherness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/otherness/) ## Related quotes > [“The Self wishes to create, to evolve. The Ego likes things just the way they are. —Steven Pressfield”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-kadavy/the-self-wishes-to-create-to-evolve-the-ego-likes-things-just-the-way/) David Kadavy > [Happiness is within everyone, but we are not able to experience it because of our ego's likes and dislikes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/happiness-is-within-everyone-but-we-are-not-able-to-experience-it/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [To love is to recognize yourself in another. The others "otherness" then stands revealed as an illusion pertaining to the purely human realm, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/to-love-is-to-recognize-yourself-in-another-the-others-otherness-then/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Whatever the ego seeks and gets attached to are substitutes for the Being that it cannot feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/whatever-the-ego-seeks-and-gets-attached-to-are-substitutes-for-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Furthermore, any teaching that puts the spotlight of attention on the workings of the ego will necessarily provoke egoic reaction, resistance, and attack.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/furthermore-any-teaching-that-puts-the-spotlight-of-attention-on-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“companies often emphasize features when they should be emphasizing benefits.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-heath/companies-often-emphasize-features-when-they-should-be-emphasizing/) [Chip Heath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chip-heath/) > [I emphasize the technical aspects in all my films, not just Hindi.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyadarshan/i-emphasize-the-technical-aspects-in-all-my-films-not-just-hindi/) [Priyadarshan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyadarshan/) > [As you emphasize your life, you must localize and define it... you cannot do everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/as-you-emphasize-your-life-you-must-localize-and-define-it-you-cannot/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [Our idea is simply to play the songs and to emphasize our musicianship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krist-novoselic/our-idea-is-simply-to-play-the-songs-and-to-emphasize-our-musicianship/) [Krist Novoselic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krist-novoselic/) > [When you emphasize the 'po' in police, then they're probably already after you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-emphasize-the-po-in-police-then-they-re-probably-already/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One of the best aspects of health care reform is it starts to emphasize prevention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-wojcicki/one-of-the-best-aspects-of-health-care-reform-is-it-starts-to/) [Anne Wojcicki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-wojcicki/) > [They emphasize the viewpoint that the protracted economic stagnation in Japan derives from incomplete economic adjustments to significant changes in relative prices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toshihiko-fukui/they-emphasize-the-viewpoint-that-the-protracted-economic-stagnation/) [Toshihiko Fukui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toshihiko-fukui/) > [I think the ability to emphasize is, in large part, what makes me a man and not a boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cho/i-think-the-ability-to-emphasize-is-in-large-part-what-makes-me-a-man/) [John Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cho/) > [I wish to emphasize that there are no secrets to golf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-jones/i-wish-to-emphasize-that-there-are-no-secrets-to-golf/) [Ernest Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-jones/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) ## More by Eckhart Tolle > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“A powerful spiritual practice is consciously to allow the diminishment of ego when it happens without attempting to restore it. I recommend that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/a-powerful-spiritual-practice-is-consciously-to-allow-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [To become aware of the subtlety of nature you need to be alert. The moment you become alert you become still... thinking subsides. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/to-become-aware-of-the-subtlety-of-nature-you-need-to-be-alert-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When you are not honoring the present moment by allowing it to be, you are creating drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-are-not-honoring-the-present-moment-by-allowing-it-to-be-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [On a deeper level you are already complete. When you realize that, there is a joyous energy behind what you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/on-a-deeper-level-you-are-already-complete-when-you-realize-that/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/life-will-give-you-whatever-experience-is-most-helpful-for-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [You may not yet be able to bring your unconscious mind activity into awareness as thoughts, but it will always be reflected in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-may-not-yet-be-able-to-bring-your-unconscious-mind-activity-into/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“War is a mind-set, and all action that comes out of such a mind-set will either strengthen the enemy, the perceived evil, or, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/war-is-a-mind-set-and-all-action-that-comes-out-of-such-a-mind-set/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Whenever you step out of the noise of thinking, that is meditation, and a different state of consciousness arises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/whenever-you-step-out-of-the-noise-of-thinking-that-is-meditation-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Get the inside right, and the outside will take care of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/get-the-inside-right-and-the-outside-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [It is very hard to tell when I started to be a spiritual teacher. There was a time when occasionally somebody would come and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/it-is-very-hard-to-tell-when-i-started-to-be-a-spiritual-teacher/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-spend-their-entire-life-imprisoned-within-the-confines-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Let the end of the world be inside you, then you don't need to fear the end of the world out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/let-the-end-of-the-world-be-inside-you-then-you-don-t-need-to-fear/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Jeste li zabrinuti? Razmišljate li često: »Što bi bilo da sam...?« To znači da ste se poistovjetili s umom, koji se projicira u neku…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/jeste-li-zabrinuti-razmi-ljate-li-esto-to-bi-bilo-da-sam-to-zna-i-da/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) [Explore all 1,493 Eckhart Tolle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More Ego quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/for-us-who-are-now-in-power-we-need-to-be-challenged-to-serve-the/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [I love playing ego and insecurity combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carrey/i-love-playing-ego-and-insecurity-combined/) [Jim Carrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carrey/) > [“sometimes when everything seems at its worst when all conspires and gnaws and the hours, days, weeks years seem wasted – stretched there upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/sometimes-when-everything-seems-at-its-worst-when-all-conspires-and/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I'm a straight shooter, and most of the time my ego doesn't interrupt my relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-macht/i-m-a-straight-shooter-and-most-of-the-time-my-ego-doesn-t-interrupt/) [Gabriel Macht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-macht/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“There are two kinds of people: goal-oriented and ego-oriented. Goal-oriented people work together and get things gone. Ego-oriented people don’t work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charbel-tadros/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-goal-oriented-and-ego-oriented-goal/) [Charbel Tadros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charbel-tadros/) > [Heart surgeons do not have the world's smallest egos: when you ask them to name the world's three leading practitioners, they never can remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/heart-surgeons-do-not-have-the-world-s-smallest-egos-when-you-ask/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [I hate acting when I see it. I don't want to feel it, I don't want to see it, I want to be taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-hauer/i-hate-acting-when-i-see-it-i-don-t-want-to-feel-it-i-don-t-want-to/) [Rutger Hauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-hauer/) > [It's a constant man-ego-check going on in the streets, in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/it-s-a-constant-man-ego-check-going-on-in-the-streets-in-this-world/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [“... a man doesn't like to have his ego popped, especially when he prides himself on his sagacity, and then to be proved wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/a-man-doesn-t-like-to-have-his-ego-popped-especially-when-he-prides/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [Our real nature is not our imaginary, limited ego. Our true nature is vast, all-comprehensive, and intangible as empty space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anagarika-govinda/our-real-nature-is-not-our-imaginary-limited-ego-our-true-nature-is/) [Anagarika Govinda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anagarika-govinda/) > [The man of wisdom is devoid of ego even though he may appear to use it. His vacant or fasting mind is neither doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramesh-s-balsekar/the-man-of-wisdom-is-devoid-of-ego-even-though-he-may-appear-to-use/) [Ramesh S Balsekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramesh-s-balsekar/) > [Show me success without ego!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivana-trump/show-me-success-without-ego/) [Ivana Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivana-trump/) [Browse all 3,462 Ego quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“ the ego likes to emphasize the 'otherness' of others ”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eckhart Tolle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-ego-likes-to-emphasize-the-otherness-of-others/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ego" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-ego-likes-to-emphasize-the-otherness-of-others/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/339/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-likes-to-emphasize-the-otherness_1417401.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/339/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-likes-to-emphasize-the-otherness_1417401.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/339/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-likes-to-emphasize-the-otherness_1417401.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“the ego likes to emphasize the 'otherness' of others” — Eckhart Tolle", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“ the ego likes to emphasize...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-ego-likes-to-emphasize-the-otherness-of-others/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-ego-likes-to-emphasize-the-otherness-of-others/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```