Pride

Pride is in the first place rebellion against the limitations that existence places on an individual. It is the refusal to live without control over the world, the society and the self. Second, it is isolation. As a perverted form of self love, it denies the need for community of others. It drives people to ignore others, or hurt others, or patronize others. It refuses dependency on and help from others. Third, it is personal slavery. It alienates us from aspects of ourselves that we are ashamed to recognize or admit and thus prevents any personal growth. It is not self-respect but the perversion of self-respect. It is self-abasement because it is based on the lie that the self is the centre of the universe. It is not the normal human drive to personal significance but the trivialization of the rest of reality. Pride, one of the seven capital sins, destroys families, perverts relationships, divides communities, provokes wars, and corrupts the sources of human happiness.