*PRIDE/*PROUD - see FALL, HUMILITY, STUBBORN, EVIL,
In Mere Christianity, the chapter on "Pride" (the most evil of all vices) shows how "power" is what pride wants. (C S Lewis)
Pride blinds us to our faults and makes us stubbornly cling to our own ways. Pride is at the root of almost every other sin. (Billy Graham, 11/3/08)
Prayer is an admission that we need God's help. You will never pray if you think you can solve everything on your own, or if you're too proud to ask God for help. Pride keeps us from prayer. (Billy Graham, 10/14/08)
Pride not only makes us cocky and therefore closed minded, but may also instill a fear in us about looking stupid in front of others. (Randy, 6/97)
A sure sign of spiritual pride is feelings of superiority (holier-than-thou) or judgment of those who do not practice "our" kind of devotion. Perverted virtue is the greatest vice. Pride tempts us to feel complacent in the face of this or that accomplishment; it prompts us to cling to the lie of self-salvation; it weakens our reliance on grace while we continue to presume on God's mercy; it dampens the desire to give ourselves to the service of God without advertising our accomplishments. (Dark Night, p38-9,47)
You can have no greater sign of confirmed pride than when you think you are humble enough. (The Problem of Pain, p55)
The sin of pride is when we take credit for what is God's grace. (Fr. Champlin)
All of our gifts, unless guided by love, become occasions for pride, the deadliest of sins. (ReadingNT2, p46)
1. high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc. Synonims pride, conceit, self-esteem, and vanity imply an unduly favorable idea of one's own appearance, advantages, achievements, etc. and often apply to offensive characteristics. Pride is a lofty and often arrogant assumption of superiority in some respect: pride must have a fall. Conceit implies an exaggerated estimate of one's own abilities or attainments, together with pride: blinded by conceit. Self-esteem implies an estimate of oneself more complimentary than that held by others: a ridiculous self-esteem. Vanity implies self-admiration and an excessive desire to be admired by others: his vanity was easily flattered. (Dict)
God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble (James 4:6).
Pride is always last in being offered up to Me. My people want to be gods themselves and rulers of their lives. (IAM, p65)
Our ignorance of the future life has indeed one positive advantage - it keeps us relatively humble. If there remained no mysteries for us to stand in awe of, how utterly unbearable would be man's pride and arrogance. (Rebld, p89)
Poor, ignorant, ephemeral creatures - we, who do not know whether we shall draw another breathe, how dare we lift our puny heads defiantly towards starlite space, and sneeringly refuse to kneel before the Infinite Creator of the universe - too proud to ask Him for His aid, or thank Him for His mercies! (Rebld, p254)
For pride is the beginning of all sin. (City of God, Book XII Chapter 6)
St. Augustine said that "pride is the root of all sin". In pride we have a higher opinion of self than we ought to and don't recognize our limitations, finiteness, shortcomings, sickness, fallenness, and sinfulness. The Fall was because of pride we thought we "will be like gods (Gen 3:5)" and thought less of God thinking His glory was reachable by ourselves and without Him. Lucifer's fall was also because of pride! Pride is the sin of self-righteousness, self-concern, and self-love rather than recognizing God as the Alpha and Omega for righteousness and love. We are self-righteousness when we think we are right about something and stubbornly refuse to be open (ie. different ways of displining children) or when we feel righteousness by our actions (ie. doing something good for someone). We are self-loving (narcissus) when we think highly of ourselves like a demigod (ie. we think we are smarter or more athletic than others.) Although created in God's image and likeness, we think we are like Gods, rather than likeness and we think we are the spitten-image of God, rather than in the image (like the moon is to the Sun). (Randy)
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. (Prov 16:18)
Knowledge inflates with pride. (1 Cor 8:1)
Because pride has wounded us, humility maketh us whole. (Confessions)
You withstand the proud... for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. (Confessions 1,1,1:PL 32,659-661)
Hatred of God comes from pride... it presumes to curse as the one who forbids sins and inflicts punishments. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2094)
Envy often comes from pride; the baptized person should train himself to live in humility. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2540)
To take PRIDE in bearing hardships is not difficult for one who loves Jesus, for to take pride in hardships is to take pride in the Lord's cross. Material success and recognition do not last for long, and, in the end, they always bring sadness with them. If you want to be proud of something, be proud of your good conscience and not of what other other people say about you. (Imitation, book2, ch6)
Man was [is] so bound by his vanity and PRIDE, so desirous of imposing his will on others, as to be incapable of transforming himself by his own powers. (Passion, p145)