In addition, research has shown that it isn’t good for children to be the top priority in a household. We have a nation filled with children who feel entitled, can’t really manage for themselves, and can’t endure uncomfortable emotions because everything is taken care of for them.

Self-pity connotes victimization and martyrdom, and even though you may indeed feel victimized, this attitude will prevent you from taking action and will inevitably drive people away.

I came to discover that underneath these tirades was a chasm of shame and excruciating anguish.

“Religion draws people who don’t want to go to hell. Spirituality draws people who have already been there.”

Being human plagues narcissists. To show vulnerability shatters their image and leaves them with a raw shame that’s so intolerable they often react with the rage of a wounded animal.

And, it’s particularly difficult because narcissists work hard to build up a feeling of obligation, hoping it will keep us locked in despite the way they mistreat us.

The term “mind game” can be used for any strategy or tactic where mental manipulation or intimidation of another person is a goal.

narcissism is better viewed as a continuum of emotional states from adolescent self-interest to romantic love to excessive self-absorption and entitlement.

One of the challenges in describing narcissism is that it is often associated with the sense of self-entitlement that has become such a part of our culture that makes it difficult to discern narcissistic tendencies from pathological narcissism.