so many aspects of what is called I. from the greatest thorn in one's side and others, the egoism, to the awareness of presence that cannot be attributed to the I with certainty, to saving sentences like maybe, but I am not like that. all attempts to differentiate the egoistic I from the universal self only ever succeed in a limited, artificial space. language mirrors this immutable paradox in the unvarnished terms self-serving and self-reliant, self-aware and selfish.