What is Pride – What Does it Mean to Be Proud

Introduction.

What is pride, what is a pride definition? Welcome back to our small piece of real estate on the wonderful worldwide web. Today I want to share with you some thoughts about pride. What is it and why is it not the same as confidence of self esteem? 

You have all probably met someone who is boastful and doesn’t listen to any advice, because they just think they know better than anyone else. Perhaps they come across as arrogant, full of contempt and unforgiving. But what are they covering up or compensating for?

Pride in Mythology.

I’m sure you have heard the ancient myth about Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection. He was unable to love anyone but himself. Even when the nymph Ercho fell in love with him, he didn’t return her affection. The Gods decreed that he would only live to an old age if he never looked upon himself. When he saw his reflection, he fell in love with himself and pined away and died. For many of you this would have been your first pride story.

Unhealthy pride may grow into conceit. For example, sometimes it leads to too much self-respect at the cost of respect to others. As a result it can cause you to adopt a superior attitude and to make others feel less than, or not enough.

This article is another in the series of the progression of emotional states. It is inspired by the writngs of David R Hawkins M.D. Ph.D. in his book “Letting Go – The Pathway to Surrender”

So, let’s dig in and share what it is all about.

Before you go any further, please bear in mind that nothing in this article constitutes professional advice. This content merely explains the personal thoughts, experiences and research of the author. This article is intended for purposes of edutainment only.

What is the real meaning of pride, What Does The Dictionary Say?

Pride is a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction taken  from your own achievements in life. For instance, these achievements can be qualifications, money, possessions or any other physical thing. Also, many pride themselves in membership of a group, which may include a blind dedication to and following of the ideas of the group. This type of dedication can lead to the brainwashing effect of a mob mentality.

Pride is without love. It has to be right all of the time, even when it is wrong. Also, pride is denial of truth. However, there is no joy or gratitude in pride, neither is there enjoyment of success. Success is merely a something to hide behind, so your insecurity is not exposed.

At its root, pride is a compensatory behaviour to cover up insecurity and poor self worth, a feeling of not being enough. As a result, you project the illusion of superiority as a defensive mechanism to hide your insecurities, without realising that your pride attracts attention and attack.

An high or inordinate opinion of your worth is almost always accompanied by pride or conceit. This is sometimes displayed in bearing and behavior.

Words indicating Pride.

When you project your pride, everything is about you and one of the most important words you use is “mine.” Everything about you is more important than anyone else, you have: “my opinion, my success my possessions.” Everything is about comparison with others, to show how superior and important you are, when inside you feel small and insignificant.

Because of the pictures about yourself that you create in your mind and the words you tell yourself, your accomplishments don’t grow your confidence and you hide your vulnerability behind your pride.

Why is being Prideful damaging? Is the Idiom – “Pride Comes Before a Fall” True?

Pride is connected to your ego, that part of you that creates the illusion of separation. If you believe you are your body, instead of infinite spirit that is your true being, you see yourself as distinct from everyone else and you deny your connectedness to all things.

Your ego measures you against everyone you meet and know, because your ego perceives life as full of threats which will attack you. Also, your ego’s defense against potential attack is to create a persona of strength, which intimidates others and keeps them in their place.

Pride damages your relationships, because it makes you self centered and you look to get what you need for yourself first, rather than being supportive of others.

Pride makes you shallow defensive and vulnerable. You need constant validation from others; to make sure the illusion you have created about yourself is still in place.

Pride is devoid of love, but full of judgement. It refuses the help of others. So the downward spiral of low self esteem accelerates, until the feeling of separation turns into loneliness and despair. Even then, it doesn’t allow you to reach out for connection and help.

Your pride wants to be special; it wants to be served instead of allowing you to be of service to others. Subsequently, as your isolation deepens, you go into a state of anger, guilt and despair.

Too much pride implies an excessive preoccupation with yourself. So, you aren’t able to recognize the impact of your behavior on others in your social group. This in turn may make others turn away from you and you may find the proverb that “pride goes before destruction and a fall” is true.

Pride is Not Self-esteem or Confidence.

Your pride needs the validation of others outside of you. This type of validation is outside of your locus of control. Because you do not control the reactions of others, you become vulnerable to their moods and thoughts. This causes to you have low self esteem, which manifests as your pride trying to set you up as superior to others, in order to try and get the external validation that you need.

Unfortunately, your pride alienates the very people that you seek validation from. As a result, they resist the false image you have created of yourself. Consequently, this just makes your ego push harder for validation from others, by exhibiting more of it and a vicious cycle of pride and rejection ensues.

Self-Esteem.

Healthy self esteem comes from inner self validation and normally manifests as humility and service to others. You are confident enough in your being to put the needs of others above your own, because of your connectedness to others. Your healthy self esteem allows you satisfaction taken in something done or belonging to you. Something believed to reflect credit upon you. However there is no excessive preoccupation with oneself, or need to have others reflect credit upon oneself. 

With healthy self esteem, you have a knowingness of your place in the universe and you are able to experience joy, gratitude and love in place of pride.

Confidence.

Confidence and a healthy self esteem means that you have a realistic picture of your abilities, at the same time you are aware of your limitations and the steps you need to take if you want to improve. You can accept help and advice form others.

Pride and confidence cannot exist in your mind together. It will eat away at your confidence until there is nothing left but vanity, selfishness and contempt for others.

When you are full of pride, your favourite words are “me” and “mine.”

How Does Being Proud Make You Act?

Your pride makes you act in ways that promote yourself, even at the expense of others. For example, you are preoccupied with your own aims and desires and have little regard for the feelings of those around you.

Pride is never wrong and you defend your ideas as the only truth, even when all the evidence is against you. You have to be right, because you are superior to anyone else and they are just not on your level.

Your pride can make your attitude to other people condescending and rude. This is because you have no consideration for the feelings of others. Your own thoughts, opinions, needs and feelings are the only things that matter.

What Is the Spiritual Root Cause of Pride?

At the level of spirit, the root cause of your pride is the illusion of your separation from the oneness of all things. As a result, you have forgotten who you are as a part of the oneness of the universal mind. You believe in your sin.

The original meaning of sin is the belief in the illusion of separation from God. Because separation is an illusion, there is no such thing as sin. However, your ego has convinced you that you are limited to your body and your life is limited to the time between birth and death.

This allows you ego to make you feel small, so that it can control you and you function only in the world of things. You believe the more things you have, the more validation you have and you believe the things that you accumulate in life will provide you with the safety you desperately seek.

When you act under the control of your ego; you become less spirit and more matter. By serving others and spreading love you become more spirit and less matter. Do not confuse becoming less matter for mattering less.

Some Quotes About Pride.

Here are some quotes selected about pride. As you read them, please pause and think about what they mean to you in the context of this article. What insight and inspiration will you draw from them?

If you would like to share your thoughts, I would love to hear them in the comments section.

“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”

– Saint Augustine.

“Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune.”

– Carl Jung.

“Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.”

– Thomas Merton.

“The truest characters of ignorance are vanity and pride and arrogance.”

– Samuel Butler.

“With pride, there are many curses. With humility, there come many blessings.”

– Ezra Taft Benson.

“In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.”

– John Ruskin.

“Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up.”

– Mahatma Gandhi.

“The greatest pride, or the greatest despondency, is the greatest ignorance of one’s self.”

– Baruch Spinoza.

“Pride is ugly. It says, ‘If you succeed, I am a failure’.”

– Ezra Taft Benson.

How Do You Break Pride?

A good start for you to overcome your pride is to start to listen to others when they speak to you. Don’t interrupt or give your thoughts, just listen in silence and don’t judge what they have to say.

Once you can listen without judging, you can start to think about what you can do for others. It is important that you start to contribute to others without the expectation of getting anything in return. If you find yourself wanting to interrupt, just counter this by saying “Please go on.”

In this way, you learn that the act of helping others is, in itself, sufficient reward. Your changed behavior is usually but not always accompanied by better reactions from others and even surprise. Stick at it, you’ve got this.

As you continue to interact with others, that draws them closer to you instead of driving them away. You can start to acknowledge your connectedness to others, as you build new positive relationships.

Change Your Words.

Change your words to exclude “me” and “mine” as much as possible. Your new way of communicating should be more about “you” and “yours.”

As your relationships begin to change, you will get the external validation that you have been looking for. At the same time, your inner self esteem will start to strengthen such that you no longer feel the need of validation by others.

The more your self esteem grows the more you will develop the energy of quiet confidence and humility; you no longer need to tell people how wonderful you are.

Life becomes more satisfying and you can start to think about gratitude for the change that is taking place.

Finally, you recognise that everyone is the same. We all have our challenges in life and we are all trying to be the best that we can be. Nobody is better or worse than anyone, we are just different.

Frequently Asked Questions: What is Pride – What Does it Mean to Be Proud

Q. What is the real meaning of pride?

A. Pride is a complex emotion that can be understood in various ways. At its core, it is a feeling of deep satisfaction, pleasure, or contentment derived from one’s own achievements, qualities, or possessions. It involves a positive evaluation of oneself and often carries a sense of dignity and self-respect.

Q. What is proud behavior?

A. Prideful behavior is characterized by a display of confidence, self-assurance, and a high or inordinate opinion of one’s abilities, appearance, or accomplishments. Pride is usually but not always accompanied by conceit.

Q. What is an example of pride?

A. An example of pride could be a person who has worked tirelessly to achieve a personal goal. Upon accomplishing it, they feel a deep sense of satisfaction and pride in their hard work and determination.

Q. What does being proud mean to a person?

A. Pride holds different meanings for different individuals. To one person, it might imply an unduly favorable idea of themselves and the recognition of their achievements, leading to feelings of self-respect and a positive self-image.

Q. What does a prideful person act like?

A. A prideful person typically behaves with confidence and self-assurance. They may display their achievements and talents with a certain level of arrogance. Also, they may be less receptive to constructive criticism due to their high self-regard.

Q. What are signs of pride in a person?

A. Signs of pride in a person can be seen in their demeanor and actions. They may openly talk about their achievements, seek validation and admiration from others, and find it challenging to admit their mistakes or limitations.

Q. Is being proud a toxic trait?

A. Pride can become a toxic trait when it transforms into excessive arrogance and leads to a disregard for others’ feelings and opinions. It becomes harmful when it negatively impacts relationships and prevents personal growth.

Q. Is pride narcissism?

A. While pride and narcissism share some common characteristics, they are not the same. Pride involves a positive evaluation of oneself based on achievements, while narcissism is an excessive preoccupation with oneself and an intense need for admiration and validation from others.

Q. What is the most prideful personality type?

A. There is no specific “most prideful” personality type, as pride can be found in individuals of various personality traits. Different people may express pride differently based on their experiences and backgrounds.

Q. Is pride an insecurity?

A. Pride can sometimes be rooted in insecurity. People may develop a strong sense of pride as a defense mechanism to mask their insecurities or to gain validation and recognition from others.

Q. How does being proud destroy a person?

A. Pride can destroy a person by clouding their judgment and leading them to make poor decisions. It may alienate them from friends and loved ones, hinder personal growth, and create a barrier to learning from mistakes.

Q. How do you break pride?

A. To break pride, you must recognize the impact it has on your life and relationships. Cultivating humility, practicing empathy, and being open to feedback can help you overcome excessive pride and develop healthier self-awareness.

Q. Why is being proud a weakness?

A. Pride can be considered a weakness because it may blind individuals to their own flaws and prevent them from acknowledging their limitations. This can hinder personal growth and prevent them from seeking help or learning from others.

Q. Why is being proud damaging?

A. Pride becomes damaging when it leads to arrogance and a lack of consideration for others’ feelings and perspectives. It can create conflicts and distance in relationships and hinder one’s ability to connect and empathize with others.

Summing Up.

I hope that the thoughts expressed in this article have given you pause for thought. Pride can be a toxic state of being, which can cause unhappiness in you and those around you.

Pride operates in so many areas of our lives and contributes to so much conflict. National pride and religious pride come to mind immediately as having caused so much suffering in history. If everyone was the same and held the same beliefs, our world would be a very dull place to experience.

Our diversity as humanity is what makes us special. It teaches us to be tolerant as we journey on this little rock that is hurtling through space. The universe has been around for billions of years, our human lives are so short by comparison, that perhaps we overestimate our influence and importance.

With love as always

Richard H Morris.