A personality has its own ways

“He noticed with distaste his own trick of appealing for sympathy. A personality had its own ways. A mind might observe them without approval. Herzog did not care for his own personality, and at the moment there was apparently nothing he could do about its impulses.”
~Saul Bellow, Herzog

I read this passage this morning (Yes! I am spending the day reading!) and it really grabbed my attention. "A personality had its own ways. A mind might observe them without approval. Herzog did not care for his own personality..."

I cannot honestly say that I don't care for my own personality. In general, I like myself and enjoy my own company. There are, however, moments when I will say, do, or even think something for which I immediately and sternly chastise myself: "What is the matter with you? Why are you so [self-centered, selfish, self-serving, unkind, lazy, etc.]? Stop it!" I think Bellow stated it beautifully. "A personality had its own ways. A mind might observe them without approval."

My New Year's resolution is to have far fewer of those moments in the future.