"I could take this position - supposing you regard me as some sort of a guru. 

And you know how gurus hate each other. They're always putting each other down. 

And I could say, 'Well, I don't put other gurus down.' See, that outwits all of them! 

We're always doing that. We're always finding a way to be one-up, and by the most incredibly subtle means. So you see that, you see. And you say, 'I realize I'm always doing that. Tell me, how do I not do that?' I say, 'Why do you want to know?' You say, 'Well, 

I'd be better that way!' 'Yeah, but why do you want to be better?' You see - the reason why you want to be better is the reason why you aren't. 

Shall I put it like that? We aren't better because we want to be."

-Alan Watts