Mastered by his better self he would have returned reluctantly up the tree, but for one thing.

如果不是因为他可以更好的掌握自己，他会不情愿地回到树上，但有一件事是肯定的。

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He radiated self-confidence and optimism.

他显得自信乐观。

《牛津词典》

He was self-important, vain and ignorant.

他自大、虚荣、而且无知。

《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》

He developed what he calls a suicide molecule that acts like the protein which tells cells to self-destruct.

VOA: special.2010.03.16

Notice how very casual Yeats is in that second strophe, how self-consciously fantastic and speculative he is.

注意叶芝在第二节,是多么随意，多么自觉的神奇,多么敏锐。

耶鲁公开课 - 现代诗歌课程节选

Alexander took this tendency of syncretism, of mixing together different religious traditions from different places, and he used it as a self-conscious propaganda technique.

于是亚历山大利用宗教融合，即把不同地区的不同宗教传统融合，作为有意为之的宣传工具。

耶鲁公开课 - 新约课程节选

As a child he felt so self-conscious he was afraid to go to a public swimming pool in case other people stared at him.

BBC: Five photos that sparked body image debates

"He just doesn't have the self-belief, the self-confidence that he obviously had, the Tiger of old -- simple as that, " the Englishman said.

CNN: Tiger Woods hits back at his critics

Unfortunately for him, much of the pathos he was trying to convey was undone by his occasional flashes of animosity and resentment, plus glimpses of the monumental self-pity he seemed unable to suppress.

BBC: Behind the mask