Full Idea
Whatever they say about their 'egotism', people nevertheless do nothing their whole life long for their ego, but instead for the phantom ego that has formed in the heads around them and been communicated to them.
Gist of Idea
People do nothing for their real ego, but only for a phantom ego created by other people
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (Dawn (Daybreak) [1881], 105)
Book Reference
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Dawn (Daybreak) (v 5)', ed/tr. Smith, Brittain [Stanford 2011], p.72
A Reaction
Nietzsche has a vision of true devotion to the ego as healthy, and so (I would say) does Aristotle, though the two might disagree about the details. I want to live among people who work on themselves, not those who always sacrifice themselves.