“Narcissism describes both a psychological and a cultural condition. On the individual level, it denotes a personality disturbance characterized by an exaggerated investment in one’s image at the expense of the self. Narcissists are more concerned with how they appear than what they feel. Indeed, they deny feelings that contradict the image thy seek. Acting without feeling, they tend to be seductive and manipulative, striving for power and control. They are egotists, focused on their own interests but lacking the true values of self – namely, self-expression, self-possession, dignity and integrity. Narcissists lack a sense of self derived from body feelings. Without a solid sense of self, they experience life as empty and meaningless. It is a desolate state.
On the cultural level, narcissism can be seen in a loss of human values – in a lack of concern for the environment, for the quality of life, for one’s fellow human beings. A power betrays its insensitivity to human needs. The proliferation of material things becomes the meausre of progress in living, aand man is pitted against woman, worker against employer, individual against community. When wealth occupies a higher position than wisdom, when noteriety is admired more than dignity, when success is more important than self-respect, the culture itself overvalues ‘image’ and must be regarded as narcissistic.”
Page ix.
