High regard for one’s self, at the expense of recognizing the equal worth of others, is the most operational definition of pride. It is the deadliest of all deadly sins. It causes one to love his or her own excellence, without realizing that others can be excellent, too. Pride is the bedrock of all discrimination on earth.

Pride goes beyond the basic human right of equality. It also causes disputes and wars since the fundamental principle of pride is total elimination of the achievement of others. The opposite of pride is humility. It is humility that brings about peace and order, along with generosity. Because of pride, simple constructive competition leads to cutthroat competition.

Pride makes one haughty, thinking that oneself is at an advantaged position. This high opinion of oneself leads to vanity or vainglory. This inordinate self-love causes the other deadly sins. When one is negatively proud, he is intolerant of what he perceives are the shortcomings of the world, and are thus beneath his station. Because others are inferior, his temper is short with their shortcomings.

This leads to anger, another deadly sin. A proud man has a short fuse when it comes to other people’s faults and shortcomings. Because people who err do not measure up to his standards, which in his mind are lofty because of his high regard of himself, he cannot tolerate others and will, thus, be prone to impatience and anger.

High regard for oneself makes the person think that he no longer has to lift a finger to prove his worth some more. This causes inertia and dormancy in a person. In his mind, he is already great. Thus, pride leads to sloth, another deadly sin. In his mind, a proud man is a successful man, and already self-made. He already rests comfortably on his laurels.

Whether he is just deluding himself or his achievements are truly concrete and measurable is not the point. A man afflicted with pride is more than content with what he has done so far. This contentment and level of satisfaction makes him lazy so as to achieve more. In his mind, he need not add any more feathers to his cap.

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