Can the “ego” be extinguished?

I occasionally have what people might call “egotistical” thoughts; I will occasionally think to myself how good something I did was, and I’ll get pleasure in knowing that others may have been impressed by what I did. There are people though, who claim that the ego is something that we must “overcome”, or get rid of, as if it’s this constant affliction that people suffer from. However, I can still engage in thoughts and thinking that are not egotistical in any way. I think what I am saying is that people are not continuously egotistical, and also that no one can “erase” their ego’s entirely, but, what you can achieve, is a reduction in the activity of the ego.

Nevertheless, can the ego be totally gotten rid of?