Michael

“The narcissist cannot admit that he had toiled and sweated to achieve his goal and, with this confession, shatter his alleged omnipotence and grandiose False Self. He must belittle every accomplishment of his and make it appear to have been a routine triviality. This is intended to support the dreamland quality of his fragmented personality. But it also prevents him from deriving the psychological benefits which usually accrue to to goal attainment…
The narcissist is doomed to roam a circular labyrinth. When he does achieve something, he underestimates it in order to enhance his own sense of omnipotence, perfection, and brilliance. When he fails, he dare not face reality. He escapes to the land of no narratives where life is nothing but a meaningless wasteland. The narcissist whiles his life away.”
― Sam Vaknin, Malignant Self-Love: Narcissism Revisited

“I only fear danger where I want to fear it.”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis

“Recovery from narcissist abuse, according to my thinking, is all about realizing that nothing about this person is real except for the fact that he wants to destroy you. He is a pretender…an emotional impersonator…an anomaly that spends every waking minute trying to compensate – in the worst possible way - for human qualities that he can never have.”
― Zari Ballard, Stop Spinning, Start Breathing: A Codependency Workbook for Narcissist Abuse Recovery

“Because their shame is so much deeper and more agonizing, Extreme Narcissists will stop at nothing to avoid feeling it. In fact, almost everything they say and do is intended to avoid the experience of shame. The narcissistic defenses they mobilize against shame are so extreme and pervasive that they color everything about the person’s personality, relationships, and behavior, creating a kind of shell or armor against the threat of shame.”
― Joseph Burgo, The Narcissist You Know: Defending Yourself Against Extreme Narcissists in an All-About-Me Age