The trouble is, sometimes we let our egos get too much control and they sort of "take over." Then we are in danger of being "egotistical" and believe we are superior to others. When we let ourselves become this way, it is easy to see the faults in others and want to judge them.
Remember this: The things we despise in those around us are a reflection of what we don't like in ourselves.
We all can think of someone we know who comes across as being especially arrogant and egotistical. For example, I knew someone who thought he was the greatest metaphysical teacher and claimed to be highly spiritually advanced. Yet this man never approached a subject in a humble manner. He constantly talked about himself and the uplifting experiences he'd had throughout his life that caused him to appear almost supernatural in his listeners' eyes. He'd like you to believe he knew personally several highly evolved masters and that he walked beside them in past lives.
But at the same time this man was a hater of Jews, blacks and minorities, and he treated women as inferior. This same man who claimed he knew Jesus in the flesh had no tolerance for people who believed differently than he did.
I have to ask this question: How can somebody be highly spiritually advanced when they are confining themselves to such narrow-minded thinking?
Back to the ego. I suppose we all let ours get a little inflated now and then. The temptation is to let others around us know that we have accomplished something of importance and to impress others. Why do we think we need to broadcast our successes? Our egos want to be fed!
I was moved deeply by the movie Seven Years in Tibet in which the boy Dalai Lama became a close friend of an Austrian ex-Nazi who climbed mountains. The Austrian tried to impress his new Tibetan friends by showing them glamour shots of himself in dangerous situations. He was about as egotistical as they come. But he was immediately "shot down" by their unimpressed reaction and the comment that in Tibet people are honored for being as humble as possible and that bragging is looked upon as a most undesirable trait.
The Dalai Lama, when confronted by his enemies, the Red Chinese Communist generals, treated them as friends and welcomed them, even though they desecrated his temple. He explained to them that he was only "a simple monk."
So how do we quiet our overbearing egos? When we learn that it is not important anymore to show off our spirituality. When we realize that acting spiritually is 180 degrees from being spiritual. When we can restrain that childish urge to stick in our "two cents" when someone else is showing off their spirituality. When we can go within, get quiet, and be simple.