We hear a lot about the importance of self-esteem these days, but can one have too much of it? Here Tolstoy shares his and others' thoughts on pride. What is your take?
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Self-admiration is the beginning of pride. Pride is dissipated self-admiration.
Those who do not hate their own selfishness, their placing of themselves higher than the rest of the world, are blind, because this action contradicts the truth.
--Blaise Pascal
The lighter and less dense a substance is, the less space it occupies. The qualities which a proud person attributes to himself can be compared to this.
There are many people who claim to be teachers of others who should themselves be taught first of all.
--Eastern Wisdom
The most important thing in life is the path to perfection, and what kind of perfection can exist if a person is proud and satisfied with himself?
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A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Selected from the World's Sacred Texts by Leo Tolstoy, translated from the Russian by Peter Sekirkin, Scribner, New York, 1997
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Jeffre Zaslow wrote this article for the Wall Street Journal:
"Most-Praised Generation Craves Kudos at the Office"
http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/officelife/20070423-zaslow.html