--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The self you have betrayed is your mind…" description: "\"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 expre..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/john-galt-18783_betrayed_the-self-you-have-betrayed-is-your-mind_2489492.jpg" --- # The self you have betrayed is your mind; self-esteem is… ![“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…” quote by John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/john-galt-18783_betrayed_the-self-you-have-betrayed-is-your-mind_2489492.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/john-galt-18783_betrayed_the-self-you-have-betrayed-is-your-mind_2489492.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/john-galt-18783_betrayed_the-self-you-have-betrayed-is-your-mind_2489492.jpg) > “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.”” [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that true self‑identity lies in rational intellect, not fleeting emotions or egoic fantasies, and that self‑esteem depends on trusting one's own mental power. **In simple terms:** Your mind, not feelings, defines you. Key Takeaway Trust your reasoning over emotions. Themes identity self‑esteem intellect Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal decision‑making - leadership - self‑reflection - overcoming self‑doubt Key Concepts philosophy psychology individualism Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance rational thought with emotional awareness? - When does trusting intellect become arrogance? A Different Perspective Emotions can still guide useful insights; ignoring them may lead to rigidity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/esteem/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Intellect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellect/) [Mercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mercy/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-esteem/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“Ella finds this story inside herself: A woman, loved by a man who criticises her throughout their long relationship for being unfaithful to him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/ella-finds-this-story-inside-herself-a-woman-loved-by-a-man-who/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“Entering by the carré, a piece of mirror- glass, set in an oaken cabinet, repeated my image. It said I was changed: my cheeks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/entering-by-the-carr-a-piece-of-mirror-glass-set-in-an-oaken-cabinet/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [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/) > [I don't think I have an ego problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-cunningham/i-don-t-think-i-have-an-ego-problem/) [Randall Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-cunningham/) > [I think no one is without ego. It exists in all of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-ryder/i-think-no-one-is-without-ego-it-exists-in-all-of-us/) [Sam Ryder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-ryder/) > [What it takes to reach this place I'm speaking about is to be in spirit. You shift who you are away from what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/what-it-takes-to-reach-this-place-i-m-speaking-about-is-to-be-in/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [A Course in Miracles tells us that although 'we think that without the ego, all would be chaos, the opposite is true. Without the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/a-course-in-miracles-tells-us-that-although-we-think-that-without-the/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Ego is neither positive nor negative. Those are simply concepts that create more boundaries. Ego is just ego, and the disaster of it all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adyashanti/ego-is-neither-positive-nor-negative-those-are-simply-concepts-that/) [Adyashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adyashanti/) > [I think it's the ego in us that screws us up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-keys/i-think-it-s-the-ego-in-us-that-screws-us-up/) [Alicia Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-keys/) > [I think that ego-driven leaders will be a thing of the past because the masses are tired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-farrakhan/i-think-that-ego-driven-leaders-will-be-a-thing-of-the-past-because/) [Louis Farrakhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-farrakhan/) > [I think your ego gets in the way of making something good because it kind of blinds you from the actual art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitski/i-think-your-ego-gets-in-the-way-of-making-something-good-because-it/) [Mitski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitski/) > [“In just a second, in just a second. You keep talking about ego. My God, it would take Christ himself to decide what’s ego…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/in-just-a-second-in-just-a-second-you-keep-talking-about-ego-my-god/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [Whether you are rich or poor Don't think about ego's and popularity look at each person as an independent human being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/whether-you-are-rich-or-poor-don-t-think-about-ego-s-and-popularity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I guess it has to be healthy, you have to be honest with yourself and I think that's when ego is okay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophia-amoruso/i-guess-it-has-to-be-healthy-you-have-to-be-honest-with-yourself-and/) [Sophia Amoruso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophia-amoruso/) > [The ego, as our familiar sense of self, seems predicated on fear. The fear that we might not make it, that we might not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/the-ego-as-our-familiar-sense-of-self-seems-predicated-on-fear-the/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) ## More by John Galt > [From the time of the North Briton of the unprincipled Wilkes , a notion has been entertained that the moral spine in Scotland is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/from-the-time-of-the-north-briton-of-the-unprincipled-wilkes-a-notion/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [In a word, man in London is not quite so good a creature as he is out of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/in-a-word-man-in-london-is-not-quite-so-good-a-creature-as-he-is-out/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [To rule without being felt…is the great mystery of policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/to-rule-without-being-felt-is-the-great-mystery-of-policy/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [Your mind is your only judge of truth-and if others dissent from your verdict, reality is the court of final appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/your-mind-is-your-only-judge-of-truth-and-if-others-dissent-from-your/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [Every form of causeless self-doubt, every feeling of inferiority and secret unworthiness is, in fact, man's hidden dread of his inability to deal with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/every-form-of-causeless-self-doubt-every-feeling-of-inferiority-and/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [All property and all forms of wealth are produced by man's mind and labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/all-property-and-all-forms-of-wealth-are-produced-by-man-s-mind-and/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [A trader does not squander his body as fodder or his soul as alms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/a-trader-does-not-squander-his-body-as-fodder-or-his-soul-as-alms/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [Man cannot survive except by gaining knowledge, and reason is his only means to gain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/man-cannot-survive-except-by-gaining-knowledge-and-reason-is-his-only/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [A trader is a man who earns what he gets and does not give or take the undeserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/a-trader-is-a-man-who-earns-what-he-gets-and-does-not-give-or-take-2/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [I do not enter discussions with neighbors who think they can forbid me to think. I do not place my moral sanction upon a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/i-do-not-enter-discussions-with-neighbors-who-think-they-can-forbid/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [ I want every fan of Rand to hear \[Polaha\] say the classic Galt phrase: “I swear by my life and my love of it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/i-want-every-fan-of-rand-to-hear-polaha-say-the-classic-galt-phrase-i/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [If enjoyment is a value, why is it moral when experienced by others, but immoral when experienced by you?... Why is it immoral for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/if-enjoyment-is-a-value-why-is-it-moral-when-experienced-by-others/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [“The royal borough of Chucky Stanes, like every other town of the kind, enjoys an undue proportion of ladies in a state of single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/the-royal-borough-of-chucky-stanes-like-every-other-town-of-the-kind/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [An attempt to gain a value by deceiving the mind of others is an act of raising your victims to a position higher than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/an-attempt-to-gain-a-value-by-deceiving-the-mind-of-others-is-an-act/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [There can be no causeless love or any sort of causeless emotion. An emotion is a response to a fact of reality, an estimate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/there-can-be-no-causeless-love-or-any-sort-of-causeless-emotion-an/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) [Explore all 34 John Galt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) ## More Betrayed quotes > [Being betrayed by the one you love is the worst feeling in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-the-one-you-love-is-the-worst-feeling-in-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [We are all too keenly aware that those of you who supported us by purchasing the 3DS in the beginningmay feel betrayed and criticize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satoru-iwata/we-are-all-too-keenly-aware-that-those-of-you-who-supported-us-by/) [Satoru Iwata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/satoru-iwata/) > [In tragic life, God wot, No villain need be! Passions spin the plot: We are betrayed by what is false within.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-meredith/in-tragic-life-god-wot-no-villain-need-be-passions-spin-the-plot-we/) [George Meredith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-meredith/) > [The mantra of the new historicists was "we have betrayed ourselves." Since their emergence, there have been more or less interesting paradigm shifts having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-fry/the-mantra-of-the-new-historicists-was-we-have-betrayed-ourselves/) [Paul Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-fry/) > [It is less painful, it turns out, to feel betrayed than to feel forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-grosz/it-is-less-painful-it-turns-out-to-feel-betrayed-than-to-feel/) [Stephen Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-grosz/) > [Being betrayed by someone you love just makes you more selective and careful when trying out a new relationship/friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-someone-you-love-just-makes-you-more-selective-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Rome has betrayed itself. It knew the truth and chose violence, it knew humaneness and it chose tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/rome-has-betrayed-itself-it-knew-the-truth-and-chose-violence-it-knew/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [Those who are successfully to lead their fellow-men, should have once possessed the nobler feelings. We have all known individuals whose magnanimity was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-helps/those-who-are-successfully-to-lead-their-fellow-men-should-have-once/) [Arthur Helps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-helps/) > [I'm a military man, I did what I did only because my country had to be saved from tribalism and feudalism. If I failed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mengistu-haile-mariam/i-m-a-military-man-i-did-what-i-did-only-because-my-country-had-to-be/) [Mengistu Haile Mariam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mengistu-haile-mariam/) > [To be robbed and betrayed by a fiendish underground conspiracy, or by the earthly agents of Satan, is at least a romantic sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/to-be-robbed-and-betrayed-by-a-fiendish-underground-conspiracy-or-by/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [“Cathy, don't look so defeated. She was only trying to put us down again. Maybe nothing did work out right for her, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-c-andrews/cathy-don-t-look-so-defeated-she-was-only-trying-to-put-us-down-again/) [V.C. Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-c-andrews/) > [When I was young, I had a favorite movie star. One day, I saw one of his movies, and it was bad, and he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jai-white/when-i-was-young-i-had-a-favorite-movie-star-one-day-i-saw-one-of-his/) [Michael Jai White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jai-white/) > [I really had faith in you but you betrayed me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lafee/i-really-had-faith-in-you-but-you-betrayed-me/) [Lafee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lafee/) > [No-one is ever betrayed by true love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaufre-rudel/no-one-is-ever-betrayed-by-true-love/) Jaufre Rudel Browse all 708 Betrayed quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The self you have betrayed is your mind; self-esteem is reliance on one’s power to think. 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