(Mental Floss) -- They say a lot of artistic expression is motivated by self-loathing. But not for these folks! Long before the Material Girl ordered papa to stop preaching, these six puffed-up virtuosos knew darn well how to strike a pose.

Alfred Hitchcock didn't leave people in suspense about how he felt about actors.

Here's to the creative types who managed to raise egotism to an art form.

Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock was, without question, one of the towering geniuses of cinema. And, like many greats, he wasn't exactly the best collaborator.

Hitchcock was particularly trying for screenwriters, who felt he never properly credited them for their work. But he was notoriously hard on actors.

He was once quoted as saying, "Actors are cattle" -- a quip that stirred up a huge outcry (actors can be so touchy). In response, he issued this correction: "I have been misquoted. What I really said is, 'Actors should be treated as cattle.'"

Although it began accidentally (when he was short an actor for the film "The Lodger"), Hitchcock soon made it his egotistical trademark to appear in his own films, amassing a total of 37 cameos throughout his career.

Ayn Rand

The egotist's egotist, author Ayn Rand (born Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum) is the patron saint of Thinking You're Better Than Everybody Else.

Her most famous novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, are massive dramatizations of Objectivism, her self-spun Oscar-the-Grouch philosophy for success. Objectivism champions ego and accomplishment, shuns all religion as folly, and condemns any form of charity or altruism as counterproductive to society.

Rand's novels often focus on protagonists (invariably men) who are shunned by others because of their genius, but then persevere over the foolishness of morons to prove said genius and emerge triumphant.

Not surprisingly, she saw humility as a weakness and regarded laughing at yourself as "spitting in your own face."

So, just how much did Rand believe in her own philosophy? Let's just say a lot. With signature modesty, she ranked herself as the philosophical equal of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas.

Orson Welles

When you create a cinematic masterpiece such as "Citizen Kane" at the ripe old age of 25, you're bound to get a big head. But Welles was convinced of his own importance much earlier than that.

In fact, "Citizen Kane" might have been sparked by nothing more than a bruised ego. After all, it's said he devised the film as a withering exposé of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst because Hearst slighted Welles at a dinner party. Of course, after the unparalleled success of "Citizen Kane," Welles's arrogant side didn't get any less subtle.

Do yourself a favor: Track down a recording of Welles' outtakes for a TV commercial for frozen peas. You'll hear everything you need to know about the filmmaker's oversized ego. A classic quote goes: "In the depths of your ignorance, what is it you want?"

Frank Lloyd Wright

As the brains behind the Robie House, Fallingwater, Taliesin West, the Guggenheim, and countless other design benchmarks, Frank Lloyd Wright is arguably the genius of 20th-century architecture. And, boy, did he know it!

Wright was notorious for believing he was superior to mere mortals. In fact, the architectural egomaniac frequently acted as though the rules -- even those of geography and climate -- did not apply to him. But when you're Wright, you're right.

In 1935, department store magnate Stanley Marcus (of Neiman-Marcus fame) commissioned the architect to design his Dallas home, but the project quickly went sour. Wright's avant-garde floor plan included "sleeping porches" that required his client to sleep outdoors year-round. In addition, Marcus' small bedroom "cubicles" came equipped with almost no closet space.

When Stanley respectfully explained that (a) temperatures during summer nights in Dallas often exceed 80
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