Writers –– particularly male writers –– possess a great deal of self-belief that borders on arrogance.

John Steinbeck knew he was good but hardly spoke of it (the closest piece I can find that could be described as “cocky” was this rant on death he made in Travels with Charley).

Ernest Hemingway was without a doubt pompous. So pompous that he often found himself at odds with other writers (like John Steinbeck, ironically).

And, Charles Bukowski was so unapologetically and disgustingly prideful that his pride became something of a train wreck you couldn’t stop reading even now, long after his death.

David Ogilvy, however, was a phenomenon.

For one, David Ogilvy owned his arrogance, describing himself as “conceited”.

However, I’d be quicker to reach for the term “confident”.

What separated Ogilvy from many writers was his swagger, his sophistication and his deep respect for himself and those his agency did business with.

In Confessions of an Advertising Man, he shows this respect by going so far as to apologize if the reader detects “a slight stench of conceit” in his book.

He then goes on to justify this “conceit” with the following five lines…

*David Ogilvy is typing now*

“I would have you know my conceit is selective.

I am a miserable duffer in everything except advertising.

I cannot read a balance sheet, work a computer, ski, sail, play golf, or paint.

But when it comes to advertising, Advertising Age says that I am “the creative King of advertising.”

When Fortune published an article about me and titled it: “Is David Ogilvy a Genius?”, I asked my lawyer to sue the editor for the question mark.”

That’s an expensive question mark.

It takes a confident (perhaps as Ogilvy admits, conceited) individual to sue a publication for a question mark.

But, that’s neither here nor there.

David Ogilvy brings up a fascinating point in the above excerpt… when you’re damn good at what you do, is it a sin to be selectively arrogant?

I’d argue no.

But, I’m also quite arrogant in regards to writing, myself.

By Cole Schafer.