I also tend to dislike people who describe themselves as artists. True artists create art, they don't brag. Many are enchanted by the power of labels and mistake their identity with the labels they use to describe themselves. Reminds of that Shakespeare quote:
"There is nothing so common as the desire to be extraordinary."
I know the sentiment that you're getting at, but the other side of the coin is ponying up and not being afraid to call yourself such-and-such has a significant effect on taking one's goals seriously.
There's a difference between, "I founded a company" and "I'm a founder". Similarly, getting the girl that I'm dating to start referring to herself as "a writer" rather than saying "I write" helped her to start taking that seriously.
It's like the effect Paul describes of wishing he could get all YC teams on the cover of Newsweek. Once you start telling people, "I am a [writer/founder/artist]" you're setting yourself up for failure, which is a pretty powerful motivator.
Hate to nit-pick, but an Oliver Wendell Holmes quote close to this is often attributed to Shakespeare: "Nothing is so common-place as to wish to be remarkable." [Note that in the numerous google citations that attribute either version of this maxim to Shakespeare there is NEVER a play:act:scene:line citation - a sure giveaway.]
[Sorry: I was a Shakespeare nerd in a previous life]
"There is nothing so common as the desire to be extraordinary."