Art & Creativity Quote by George V. Higgins

Egotism usually gets filed under vanity, but Higgins sharpens it into something more dangerous: a private aesthetic. Calling it an art implies craft, discipline, even taste. The egotist isn’t just loud about themselves; they curate a self-portrait so idiosyncratic that it becomes unreadable to everyone else. That’s the bite of the line: the flaw isn’t merely self-love, it’s self-interpretation unchecked by social reality.

The phrase "what others cannot see" does double duty. It flatters the ego as visionary - I’m exceptional, you’re blind - while exposing the trick that keeps egotism alive. If no one else can confirm the greatness you perceive, the lack of evidence becomes part of the story. Your audience’s skepticism isn’t a warning; it’s proof of their limits. Higgins nails the self-sealing logic of narcissism decades before "main character energy" became a meme: the self as both protagonist and sole reliable critic.

As a crime novelist and dialogue craftsman, Higgins understood how people perform identity under pressure: cops, criminals, lawyers, strivers. In those worlds, confidence is currency, and delusion can be a strategy. The line reads like something overheard in a bar and later weaponized on the page - crisp, quotable, and quietly moral. It doesn’t deny that self-belief can be creative; it warns how quickly it turns into an unshareable myth where the only witness is you.