I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self.
~ Aristotle

The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.
~ Bobby Knight

To be specific, the self-sins are these: self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and a host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them. The grosser manifestations of these sins, egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion, are strangely tolerated in Christian leaders even in circles of impeccable orthodoxy. They are so much in evidence as actually, form any people, to become identified with the gospel. I trust it is not a cynical observation to say that they appear these days to be a requisite for popularity in some sections of the Church visible. Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice.
~ A.W. Tozer, in The Pursuit of God, Chapter 3 – Removing the Veil