Pride: That Sin That Drives Our Culture and Inspires All Other Sin

Pride is, depending on the context, either a high sense of the worth of one's self or one's own or a pleasure taken in the contemplation of these things. Social psychologists identify it as linked to a signal of high social status.Shariff AF, Tracy JL. (2009). Knowing who's boss: implicit perceptions of status from the nonverbal expression of pride. Emotion. 9(5):631-9. PMID 19803585 One definition of pride in the first sense comes from St. Augustine: "the love of one's own excellence." "Est autem superbia amor proprie excellentie, et fuit initium peccati superbia."[http://freespace.virgin.net/angus.graham/DeAmore4.htm] In this sense, the opposite of pride is humility.

Pride is sometimes viewed as excessive or as a vice, sometimes as proper or as a virtue. While some philosophers such as Aristotle consider pride a profound virtue, most world religions consider it a sin.

According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, proud comes from late Old English prut, probably from Old French prud "brave, valiant" (11th century) (which became preux in French), from Late Latin term prodis "useful", which is compared with the Latin prodesse "be of use".Article from Free Online Dictionary, accessed 9 Nov. 2008 The sense of "having a high opinion of oneself", not in French, may reflect the Anglo-Saxons' opinion of the Norman knights who called themselves "proud", like the French knights preux.

When viewed as a virtue, pride in one's appearance and abilities is known as virtuous pride, greatness of soul or magnanimity, but when viewed as a vice it is often termed vanity or vainglory. Pride can also manifest itself as a high opinion of one's nation (national pride) and ethnicity (ethnic pride).