You Don't Have to Be Ashamed of Ego

John Keating (Robin Williams) in Dead Poets Society (1989). (Buena Vista Pictures Distribution)

Having an ego, in a way, is being human. It’s a mode of recognising who you are and who you want to be; of becoming someone; of learning and striving for. Ego doesn’t have to be coated in shame, although it should be checked. Perhaps mediating ego—asking what we should do with it, not whether we should have it—is the solution.

'"O me! O life! … of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless … of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here—that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?' — John Keating (Robin Williams), Dead Poets Society (1989)

So what will your verse be?

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