The Paradox of Pride While people might argue that pride is just simple stupidity and overestimation of one’s prowess, I will stand firm against this claim. Pride is not always a show of idiocy, but sometimes the cloak behind unprecedented power. In my opinion, pride can be utilized in a way that displays split-second decision-making, correct judgment of a foe’s strength, and calculated taunting to throw off the opponent’s focus. Pride manifests itself in many forms. In its brilliant forms, it appears as confidence, self-respect, dignity, ambition, and determination. These aspects of pride inspire people to overcome adversity, pursue excellence, and stand firm in the face of overwhelming odds. However, pride also possesses darker manifestations. It can emerge as arrogance, vanity, hubris, contempt, stubbornness, and delusion.
When left unchecked, these forms of pride blind individuals to their flaws and convince them that they stand above all others. When utilized in the right way, pride becomes the key to utter dominance. Battles don’t start physically. Intelligent individuals break down the opponent psychologically before the true exchange of blows or the battle of wits even starts. Dismantling the opponent’s mental defenses before the battle causes their confidence and focus to rapidly decrease. This in turn, causes them to blunder due to rage and loss of control over their emotions. In circumstances like these, the brilliant side of pride is shown. For example, the Lion’s Sin of Pride, Escanor, from the anime of Seven Deadly Sins, perfectly expresses the brilliant and good side of pride. By taunting his enemies and pitying them, he makes them lose their focus.
This causes him to utterly dominate every fight and save his fellow sins. On one hand, one can boast to be overly prideful on the outside, causing his foe to underestimate him, while showing his true hidden strength in crucial moments where the enemy becomes overly confident of his dominance. On the other hand, one can use pride to pity and enrage his enemies, causing them to make arrogant mistakes and lose their focus. Another great representation of the brilliant, but cold and calculated side of pride is Sosuke Aizen, from the anime of Bleach. By using his superb intelligence, he coldly predicts the strategies and moves of his enemies in a calculated and slightly prideful nature. This overwhelming control over his opponent’s moves causes them to lose their confidence and act wildly, which leads to utter defeat for them. However, pride is like a double-edged sword.
It can also be the cause of downfall for some. On one side, pride can assist an intelligent individual. But on the other side, in the hands of impudent fools, it destroys them from the core. The greatest danger of pride is that its strengths and weaknesses originate from the same source. The confidence that allows a person to stand above others can also blind him to his own flaws. The belief that grants one courage in battle can transform into arrogance when left unchecked. One of the most common ways giants lose to underdogs is because of their overwhelming pride and arrogance, which they express in it’s raw form. In turn, their uncontrolled form of pride acts as a poison against them. A great example of this side of pride is Frieza, from the anime of Dragon Ball Z.
Frieza’s overwhelming confidence and pride prevents him from learning from his mistakes and use new strategies to defeat his opponents. He frequently underestimates his foes, believing himself to be always above them. This is the very thing that causes him to lose over and over again, in vain. Too much pride blinds a person and strips them of any of their senses. It causes them to be unable to reason, accept losses and always overestimate themselves. It also makes them incapable of admitting their failures, and preventing him from recognizing his mistakes and learning from them. The best example of the foolish side of pride is Kira, better known as Light Yagami, from the anime of Death Note. He used to be a highly intelligent student who was living the high life till the death note appeared one day.
Slowly, the thought of him having the power to decide the fate of anyone made him increasingly more prideful. At one point, he even began to think of himself as a god, which leads to his superiority complex. Eventually, his pride and God complex leads to him being destroyed by himself due to his own arrogance and mistakes.
While I will affirm that pride isn’t always perfect and good for each and every person, I will also not deny the ingenious sides of pride. Even as the part of a deadly sin, pride is sometimes the reason of victory and the lighter that keeps the fire burning in one’s heart. Escanor, despite being the embodiment of one of the seven deadly sins, pride, he was able to use his prowess and pride for the greater good of humanity, overpower the demon clan, and save his friends. This leads to him ultimately sacrificing his life to eradicate the demon clan and save his fellow sins. With his absolute coldness and genius level intelligence, Sosuke Aizen calmly defeats his foes without breaking a sweat by predicting their moves and making them lose their hopes.
This is the reason pride is a fascinating trait, which ignites the fire of one’s heart, while at the same time, slowly destroys another from the inside. Pride amplifies a person’s belief in himself. In moderation, this creates confidence, determination, and resilience. In excess, it becomes arrogance, delusion, and self-destruction. Thus, pride itself is neither a blessing nor a curse; it merely emphasizes the qualities already present within a person. Yet, perhaps the matter is not that simple. Why is pride considered a vice and sin by society, when, it is the fuel that keeps the fire inside the hearts of great people burning? Why is pride so socially and morally condemned, when, it is the driving force behind the feats and achievements of world class innovators, rulers, athletes, scientists, scholars and even tyrants?
If one takes the time to wonder and dwell upon these thoughts, one can eventually realize, the initial question might not be the actual one. The initial question of pride being good or bad might not be the true one. Perhaps, beneath the multiple layers, the true question might be whether one can control pride so it remains a servant to its master, or does it at one point, always become the one who controls, the master even. At the base, pride usually grants one confidence, determination, resilience to pursue almost impossible tasks. It starts off as the driving force behind enormous achievements. Gradually, success follows one after the other. But, the path of pride might not always be linear. At one point, pride starts blinding the master of his senses, clouds his judgement, and eventually strips him of his common sense even.
Before one realizes it, the driving force and servant that once pushed one to success, later becomes the very thing that becomes the new master and starts controlling the path of that person, and eventually leads him to utter failures. So, from this observation, one can realize that pride posseses a very peculiar nature, that is unlike any other ordinary tool. A knife doesn’t become sharper or duller because a master or beginner uses it. A pen does not become more clever or dumber because a intelligent individual or a foolish person wields it But, pride directly amplifies the true nature of a person, beyond the surface nature. The effect of pride entirely depends upon the wielder. Pride does not just amplify the user’s strengths, it also amplifies the user’s weaknesses. So, fools grow dumber and wise people grow wiser.
Meanwhile, leaders may have more control and confidence, while tyrants may become grow increasingly blinder to their flaws. Ultimately, pride is not dangerous because of its base nature of being neutral towards all at first. It’s dangerous because it grows with the user. The true query is not that pride might be evil or good or both at the same time, the real question, beyond deep layers of thoughts, might be whether the user can control it to a point of keeping it in check, before it starts becoming the very thing that controls the original wielder. But, this is not the end of this fascinating topic. As, in my opinion, many layers remain unexplored due to its sheer depth.
Pride is basically a rabbit hole full of endless paradoxes and questions that remain unanswered till yet, leaving philosophers delving into this topic to search for deeper layers and answer the obscure, unanswered questions.
