MAN, BE NOT PROUD

 

          MAN, BE NOT PROUD

To be proud is not undesirable. It is a part of one’s self-esteem. It expresses one’s confidence in one’s superior talents used in the service of mankind.

But one must remember that every rise has a fall. Decline is the fate of all beings in this world. Nothing, except God, is eternal .  Mortality is a general characteristic of every type of creation.

Those who love to be proud and consider their rivals as inferior and unworthy of even normal respect should read the history of the downfall and decimation of the mighty men of the world .

Humility, rather than pride, is accepted as the solid foundation of all virtues. Look at these famous quotes:

*We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.”

**“True humility is intelligent self-respect which keeps us from thinking too highly or too meanly of ourselves.”

            The English poet Wentworth Dillon (1633-84) said: Pride ,the most dangerous of all faults, proceeds from want of sense, or want of thought.

            According to the English author Francis Quarles (1592-1644) : Pride is the ape of charity, in show not much unlike, but somewhat fuller of action. There are two parallels, never but asunder; charity feeds the poor, so does pride; charity builds a hospital,so does pride. In this they differ; charity gives her glory to God; pride takes her glory from man.  

            And this  is what the English divine Robert South (1634-1716} said: Pride is the common forerunner of a fall. It was the devil’s sin, and the devil’s ruin; and has been, ever since, the devil’s stratagem ,who, like an expert wrestler, usually gives a man a lift before he gives him a throw.

 

            Finally, this fact expressed by the American statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) : Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy.

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G.R.Kanwal

25 November 2024