Outlining the history of transformations of narcissism and through the clinical material, this contribution puts in dialogue Heinz Kohut's understanding of adult–infant relationality with that of Jean Laplanche. In an effort to evaluate the merits of Kohut's developmental model in metapsychological terms, the author is guided by two aims: to explore the clinical implications of different views on adult–infant relationality, especially as they manifest in the “mirror-hungry personality,” and to formulate a psychoanalytic conceptualization of self-love that can effectively challenge the narrow-minded mantras so popular today.