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I was writing the following sentence, and I realized it somehow sounds odd:

I am constantly trying to remind myself to think carefully before speaking, but those moments I forget to do so end up hurting others and myself.

Does it sound somewhat awkward, and if so, how would I have to change it?

I am constantly trying to remind myself to think carefully before speaking. However, there are few moments where I forget to do so, and end up hurting others and myself.

Could above be an alternative? but is there a way to write it in one sentence, putting emphasis on me, and still not making it sound odd?

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"To remind myself" is fine. In your context, "To remind me" would be odd. As for the latter example, I would probably write "as well as myself" instead of "and myself". – Ste Aug 11 '12 at 14:26
@Ste It is not the first myself that is the problem. – tchrist Aug 11 '12 at 14:29
@tchrist - Good observation. My answer stands though. – Ste Aug 11 '12 at 14:34
The entire sentence is awkward because "those moments" can't "end up" doing or being anything. They're "moments" which after taking place, remain in the past. Only things like people, or ongoing situations, can "end up" in any later (different) state from how they started. – FumbleFingers Aug 11 '12 at 14:47
@FumbleFingers I agree that if the sentence is analyzed strictly by logic, it sounds quite odd. But does it necessarily sound very odd if you use it casually in real life? I mean, if I directly translate it in Korean (I'm Korean, by the way), it doesn't sound awkward, but just expressive. I'm not sure how an English native speaker would find it normally. – Mika Aug 11 '12 at 16:10
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2 Answers

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I am constantly trying to remind myself to think carefully before speaking, but those moments I forget to do so end up hurting others and myself.

Your use of myself didn’t strike me as especially odd, at all. The only quibble I do have with the way you've written it is that you've set it up so that it’s those moments that hurt others. In fact, it’s you who are hurting others. So, try this:

I am constantly trying to remind myself to think carefully before speaking, but in those moments when I forget to do so, I end up hurting others and myself.

Or this:

I am constantly trying to remind myself to think carefully before speaking, but when I forget to do so, I end up hurting others and myself.

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You don’t think this use of myself is odd? Really? So it doesn’t bother you to use reflexives unreflexively then? – tchrist Aug 11 '12 at 14:44
Hi @tchrist, no, not at all. "...myself and others" might be slightly more conventional, or "...others as well as myself." – JAM Aug 11 '12 at 14:49
@tchrist It doesn't strike me as odd either - certainly not especially odd. It does strike me as formally incorrect, which is something different. – StoneyB Aug 11 '12 at 14:51
@StoneyB Arnold’s article is interesting, isn’t it? – tchrist Aug 11 '12 at 18:45
@tchrist Yes it is; but I'm not convinced that 'logophoricity' is in play in English - it's new to me as of this page. I think most of what he describes (and the sentence Mika questions) represents ordinary errors of what I call 'semi-formal' English: people engaging in discourse which calls for formal English without taking (or being allowed) the time to edit. I work with it a lot in excerpting videotaped interviews with corporate panjandrums (panjandra?). – StoneyB Aug 11 '12 at 19:51
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You could reverse the order at the end: hurting myself and others.

On the other hand, your perceived notion of awkwardness might stem from realizing that this is actually a proscribed use of myself for some people, because the subject and object fail to agree. You have moments as the subject, but myself as the object. You might make that easier by saying that the moments end up hurting others and me myself, using an emphatic not a reflexive version.

See this Language Log posting by linguist Arnold Zwicky regarding logophoric uses of reflexive pronouns in English.

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