How about both?

@bratface said:

How about both?

Yes I do think it was some of both. I think he couldn't help but be the way he was, but I think he did enjoy people having to cater to him. Sometimes he might have milked it a bit, especially with Leonard.

I don't think Sheldon thought he had any "quirks." To Sheldon, everything Sheldon did was perfectly normal behavior that everyone else should be doing too.

But Sheldon was quite aware of "training" Leonard to do what Sheldon wanted, and said so more than once.

For example, from "The Table Polarization:"

Sheldon Cooper : OK. I think we found the problem here. It's not the table at all. It's you.

Penny : Me?

Leonard Hofstadter : Well. It's always me. Take one for the team.

Sheldon Cooper : I have spent years turning this lump of clay into an acceptable conduit for my will and then you came along and reshaped him with your newfangled ideas and your fancy genitals.

Penny : Are you gonna let him talk to me like this?

Leonard Hofstadter : "Fancy" sounds like a compliment.

Penny : OK, I have not tried to change Leonard. That is just happens in relationships. Look how much Amy has changed you.

Sheldon Cooper : That's not true.

Penny : Oh sweetie. When I first met you were incapable of touching another human being. Now you're holding holds, going on dates, you even made out with her on a train.

Leonard Hofstadter : She told you?

Penny : Of courses she told me. It's the most interesting thing that happened to her entire life.

Leonard Hofstadter : You're too close to it, but Amy has had a huge impact on you.

Sheldon Cooper : You're right. Without realizing I allowed that woman to alter my personality.

Leonard Hofstadter : Mmm. You didn't have a personality; you just had some shows you liked.

Sheldon Cooper : No. No, I've changed. Like the frog that's put in a pot of water that's heated so gradually he doesn't realize he's boiling to death.

Penny : Or you're the frog that's been kiss by the princess and turned into a prince.

Leonard Hofstadter : Or you're just a tall annoying frog.

Sheldon Cooper : Excuse me. I have to break up with my girlfriend.

Penny : Oh, Sheldon. Wait.

Sheldon Cooper : No. You've opened my eyes to the truth. Amy has made me a more affectionate open-minded person. And that stops now.

Leonard Hofstadter : Well, we should call her.

Penny : Yeah. Amy. It's Penny. Hey. Just a little heads up. Leonard bought a dining room table. Yeah. Sheldon's breaking up with you.

(I didn't have to include all of that after "fancy you-know" but it was too funny to cut off.)

(so to speak.)

@Knixon said:

I don't think Sheldon thought he had any "quirks." To Sheldon, everything Sheldon did was perfectly normal behavior that everyone else should be doing too.

But Sheldon was quite aware of "training" Leonard to do what Sheldon wanted, and said so more than once.

For example, from "The Table Polarization:"

Sheldon Cooper : OK. I think we found the problem here. It's not the table at all. It's you.

Penny : Me?

Leonard Hofstadter : Well. It's always me. Take one for the team.

Sheldon Cooper : I have spent years turning this lump of clay into an acceptable conduit for my will and then you came along and reshaped him with your newfangled ideas and your fancy genitals.

Penny : Are you gonna let him talk to me like this?

Leonard Hofstadter : "Fancy" sounds like a compliment.

Penny : OK, I have not tried to change Leonard. That is just happens in relationships. Look how much Amy has changed you.

Sheldon Cooper : That's not true.

Penny : Oh sweetie. When I first met you were incapable of touching another human being. Now you're holding holds, going on dates, you even made out with her on a train.

Leonard Hofstadter : She told you?

Penny : Of courses she told me. It's the most interesting thing that happened to her entire life.

Leonard Hofstadter : You're too close to it, but Amy has had a huge impact on you.

Sheldon Cooper : You're right. Without realizing I allowed that woman to alter my personality.

Leonard Hofstadter : Mmm. You didn't have a personality; you just had some shows you liked.

Sheldon Cooper : No. No, I've changed. Like the frog that's put in a pot of water that's heated so gradually he doesn't realize he's boiling to death.

Penny : Or you're the frog that's been kiss by the princess and turned into a prince.

Leonard Hofstadter : Or you're just a tall annoying frog.

Sheldon Cooper : Excuse me. I have to break up with my girlfriend.

Penny : Oh, Sheldon. Wait.

Sheldon Cooper : No. You've opened my eyes to the truth. Amy has made me a more affectionate open-minded person. And that stops now.

Leonard Hofstadter : Well, we should call her.

Penny : Yeah. Amy. It's Penny. Hey. Just a little heads up. Leonard bought a dining room table. Yeah. Sheldon's breaking up with you.

I'll agree with you to a point on Sheldon not thinking he had any quirks. He did admit once that it was hell inside his brain. To me that acknowledges that his brain is not like everybody else's brain in the way that he processes things and reacts to things.

Except again, Sheldon doesn't think that's so bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnN_GHzv-RY&t=25

@Knixon said:

Except again, Sheldon doesn't think that's so bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnN_GHzv-RY&t=25

He is prideful most of the time but in a vulnerable moment he'll admit it's hell in his brain.

But he believes it's worse hell to be as stupid as everyone else.