I've always found it peculiar when people accuse others of narcissism. First of all, the accuser is almost always him/herself a narcissist. Second of all, if we're all narcissists, why do people seem to use the word as an insult?
Third of all, what the hell is a narcissist anyway? Isn't it just someone whose life revolves around him/herself? So... a normal, selfish person?
So I googled it and according to Wikipedia,
a narcissist is someone who has an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs.
Right.
So I was right - everyone is a narcissist.
And I think I might be a bigger narcissist than the average person - just look at the evidence in this, this and this post.
Furthermore, all my literary heroes - Jay Gatsby, Francisco d'Anconia, Edmond Dantes to name a few - are narcissists, too. In fact, I don't think I know any other literary heroes that were anything but a narcissist, other than Jesus.
Anyway - if all narcissism is is a preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, then people probably mean something else when they accuse others of narcissism, like an inflated sense of entitlement or an undeserved feeling of superiority. (Which, to be fair, sound like me as well.)
(Perhaps there should be another word for the insult kind. Then I'd have another adjective to apply to myself!)
