“We develop one of the nine personality types because our consciousness has developed in certain ways as a result of our heredity and childhood experiences… The child then uses the strengths of his or her temperament as a primary way to cope with stresses in his or her environment. But in the process of adapting, a variety of unconscious mechanisms and structures come into play that help the child feel safe but that also limit his or her sense of identity. In a sense the development of the personality is as much a defense against our early environment as it is an adaptive reaction to it.”

“But it is all the more difficult to break out of our old patterns because we are almost totally unaware of them. The mechanisms of our personality are invisible to us.” 

“Thus, the paradox of the Enneagram is this: we study the Enneagram because it is necessary to become conscious of how our personality operates so that we can become free of it.”

There are 9 types. I highly identify with Type One: in some books called The Reformer: http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11">

The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled and Perfectionistic

http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11">" In brief Ones want to be right, to strive higher and improve everything, to be consistent with their ideals, to justify themselves, and to be beyond criticism so as not to be condemned by anyone. Ones do not want to be proven wrong, to make mistakes, to allow sloppiness, to be with people they perceive as lazy or not serious, to be in chaos or in situations that seem out of control, or to be embarrassed by emotional display."

http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11">“The one emotion they regularly allow themselves is anger in its many forms: impatience, irritation, resentment, and indignation. Strangely though, Ones are usually unaware of the degree of their anger or sometimes even that they are angry at all.” " http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11">Because such feelings conflict with their self-image of being rational and in control of themselves, they attempt to suppress their anger, unwittingly perpetuating it in the process. They become very inhibited, feeling that they must constantly hold their angry feelings and impulses in check."

http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11">“At the heart of the One’s dilemma is a fundamental contradiction. More than anything else, Ones want to have integrity congruency of thought, word and deed. But to have integrity is to be integrated, that is, whole. Integrity means oneness; however, as soon as Ones have judged some part of themselves unacceptable and repressed it, they have already lost their wholeness, their integrity. The way out is not by judging and evaluating themselves. This leads only to more and more internal conflict and division. To return to wholeness, Ones need acceptance of themselves – to see that here and now, who they are is good enough.”