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The Power of Myth

From The Thirst, by Jo Nesbø:

"Narcissists love being loved," Harry said.  "Or hated.  Other
people's fear confirms and inflates their self-image.  What they find
insulting is to be ignored or belittled."

The Greek mythological story of Narcissus
is of the guy who caught sight of himself
reflected from a pool, and fell in love with himself.

He loved only himself.

He died at the edge of the pool,
very deeply in love with himself.

And there is the power of myths!  All myths.  Like Joseph wrestling with his better self all night at the river Jabbok, or Aesop's Hare and Tortoise, like the ring of power in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, the story of Narcissus, who loved himself to death, captures something we know to be true about ourselves, or life. 

Jo Nesbø was describing a character in his book.  For the narcissist, he suggests, being hated is just as effective as being loved:  it still is a focus on nothing but the narcissist.  What a narcissist cannot bear is being ignored, or the suggestion that is not what the narcissist believes he or she is:  the Most.

So, is your IQ higher than Rex Tillerson's too?


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