--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Bear had once confided to me that…" description: "\"“The Bear had once confided to me that Durrell's ego could fit snugly in the basilica of St. Peter's in Rome but in very few other public places. This ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/pat-conroy-768_ego_the-bear-had-once-confided-to-me-that-du_1852249.jpg" --- # The Bear had once confided to me that Durrell's ego could… ![“The Bear had once confided to me that Durrell's ego could fit snugly in the basilica of St. Peter's in Rome but in very few other public places. This runaway megalomania marked him as a blood member of the fraternity of generals. If looks alone could make generals, Durrell would have been a cinch…” quote by Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/pat-conroy-768_ego_the-bear-had-once-confided-to-me-that-du_1852249.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/pat-conroy-768_ego_the-bear-had-once-confided-to-me-that-du_1852249.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/pat-conroy-768_ego_the-bear-had-once-confided-to-me-that-du_1852249.jpg) > ““The Bear had once confided to me that Durrell's ego could fit snugly in the basilica of St. Peter's in Rome but in very few other public places. This runaway megalomania marked him as a blood member of the fraternity of generals. If looks alone could make generals, Durrell would have been a cinch. He was built lean and slim and dark, like a Doberman. A man of breeding and refrigerated intelligence, he ordered his life like a table of logarithms.”” [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage sat Durrell’s inflated self‑importance and rigid, calculating nature, likening him to a military figure and a cold, precise instrument. **In simple terms:** Durrell is portrayed as egotistical, disciplined, and emotionally distant. Key Takeaway Recognize and temper hubris with humility. Themes ego military intelligence control Mood critical analytical Type character study psychological insight When to use this quote - leadership assessment - personal relationships - conflict resolution - character analysis Key Concepts psychology power dynamics self‑image Questions to Reflect On - How does ego affect leadership effectiveness? - When is calculated control beneficial? A Different Perspective The vivid metaphor may over‑emphasize negativity, ignoring possible redeeming traits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confided Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confided-durrell-2438344/) [Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/durrell-2218498/) [Durrell Cinch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/durrell-cinch-2438345/) [Durrell Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/durrell-ego-2438343/) [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Generals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generals/) [Generals Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generals-durrell-2438342/) [Megalomania](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/megalomania/) ## Related quotes > [Mark Helprin and Lawrence Durrell, both of whom write fat and florid novels that appall me now but opened my eyes to the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-patterson/mark-helprin-and-lawrence-durrell-both-of-whom-write-fat-and-florid/) [Kevin Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-patterson/) > [When I was a child I used to read books by Gerald Durrell, who founded Jersey Zoo. He had a job collecting animals for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melvin-burgess/when-i-was-a-child-i-used-to-read-books-by-gerald-durrell-who-founded/) [Melvin Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melvin-burgess/) > [At the beginning of this War megalomania was the only form of sanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/at-the-beginning-of-this-war-megalomania-was-the-only-form-of-sanity/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Bill, we left megalomania behind a long time ago. Now we are gigalomaniacs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-myhrvold/bill-we-left-megalomania-behind-a-long-time-ago-now-we-are/) [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) > [Americans and their desire to be novelists, the American novel should be listed in medical dictionaries alongside Megalomania and Obsessional Neuroses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-du-plessix-gray/americans-and-their-desire-to-be-novelists-the-american-novel-should/) [Francine du Plessix Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-du-plessix-gray/) > [“When dealing with writers it breaks down like this: a regular writer is your average everyday megalomaniac. Like every artist, there's a part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-strom-martin/when-dealing-with-writers-it-breaks-down-like-this-a-regular-writer/) [Hannah Strom-Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-strom-martin/) > [You're certainly not alone in your megalomania. Everyone feels that way-and for good reason. Because it's true!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lon-milo-duquette/you-re-certainly-not-alone-in-your-megalomania-everyone-feels-that/) [Lon Milo DuQuette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lon-milo-duquette/) > [Institutions have the pathetic megalomania of the computer whose whole vision of the world is its own program.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-douglas/institutions-have-the-pathetic-megalomania-of-the-computer-whose/) [Mary Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-douglas/) > [“motives for greed and selfishness are often attributed to toil and source of riches.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/motives-for-greed-and-selfishness-are-often-attributed-to-toil-and/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Oh, good. You're starting to talk about yourself in the third person. That's not a sign of impending megalomania or anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/oh-good-you-re-starting-to-talk-about-yourself-in-the-third-person/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [“without God we are left with a choice of succumbing to megalomania or erotomania.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-feser/without-god-we-are-left-with-a-choice-of-succumbing-to-megalomania-or/) [Edward Feser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-feser/) > [There exists no greater megalomania than thinking that we are all alone in this cosmic ocean!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/there-exists-no-greater-megalomania-than-thinking-that-we-are-all/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“If you're completely off your rocker and have delusions of grandeur in which your personal existence is of special significance to the rest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-wolfe/if-you-re-completely-off-your-rocker-and-have-delusions-of-grandeur/) [Edward M. Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-wolfe/) > [Can we come to the point where we can accept the impossible strivings that we have, the utter inability to ever fulfill our narcissistic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-levy/can-we-come-to-the-point-where-we-can-accept-the-impossible-strivings/) [Francis Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-levy/) > [ It's this kind of wild unpredictability, megalomania, thin-skinned craziness that really has me worried, more than \[Donald Trump\] statements. Now, on the climate change… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-this-kind-of-wild-unpredictability-megalomania-thin-skinned/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## More by Pat Conroy > [A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/a-recipe-is-a-story-that-ends-with-a-good-meal/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [Except for memory, time would have no meaning at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/except-for-memory-time-would-have-no-meaning-at-all/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [It's an article of faith that the novels I've loved will live inside me forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/it-s-an-article-of-faith-that-the-novels-i-ve-loved-will-live-inside/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“my folks wouldn't read a book if you put a gun to their dicks. but they read people all day long and always get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/my-folks-wouldn-t-read-a-book-if-you-put-a-gun-to-their-dicks-but/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [Cameras are a lifesaver for very shy people who have nowhere else to hide. Behind a lens they can disguise the fact that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/cameras-are-a-lifesaver-for-very-shy-people-who-have-nowhere-else-to/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [Carolina beach music," Dupree said, coming up on the porch. "The holiest sound on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/carolina-beach-music-dupree-said-coming-up-on-the-porch-the-holiest/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“My memory often seems like a city of exiled poets afire with the astonishment of language, each believing in the integrity of his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/my-memory-often-seems-like-a-city-of-exiled-poets-afire-with-the/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“We began our life together at a moment of natural self-pity and defeat that left an inimitable impression on both of us. The rejection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/we-began-our-life-together-at-a-moment-of-natural-self-pity-and/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“I always liked your piety, Jack.” “I’m a lot cuter than the women of your generation,” Betsy said, playing up to Capers and Mike.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-always-liked-your-piety-jack-i-m-a-lot-cuter-than-the-women-of-your/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“From the beginning I've searched out those writers unafraid to stir up the emotions, who entrust me with their darkest passions, their most indestructible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/from-the-beginning-i-ve-searched-out-those-writers-unafraid-to-stir/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“My mother's voice and my father's fists are two bookends of my childhood, and they form the basis of my art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/my-mother-s-voice-and-my-father-s-fists-are-two-bookends-of-my/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“Over the years, my church gave me passage into a menagerie of exotic words unknown in the South: "introit," "offertory," "liturgy," "movable feast," "the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/over-the-years-my-church-gave-me-passage-into-a-menagerie-of-exotic/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“I have built a city from the books I've read. A good book sings a a timeless music that is heard in the choir…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-have-built-a-city-from-the-books-i-ve-read-a-good-book-sings-a-a/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“Time moves funny and it's hard to pin down. Occasionally, time offers you a hundred opportunities to do the right thing. Sometimes, it gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/time-moves-funny-and-it-s-hard-to-pin-down-occasionally-time-offers/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“I take it as an article of faith that the novels I've loved will live inside me forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-take-it-as-an-article-of-faith-that-the-novels-i-ve-loved-will-live/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) [Explore all 371 Pat Conroy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) ## 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 Bear had once confided to me that Durrell's ego could fit snugly in the basilica of St. Peter's in Rome but in very few other public places. This runaway megalomania marked him as a blood member of the fraternity of generals. If looks alone could make generals, Durrell would have been a cinch. He was built lean and slim and dark, like a Doberman. 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