Hand in Hand

We are studying pride. The modern terms we might use is ego, greatness, or self-esteem. Some consider all pride a sin and some say it is the original one. But we all recognize that everyone, in order to have a healthy mind, needs to have a certain amount of it. Too much and a person becomes vain and too little and a person has false-humility. There is another element that has to accompany accomplishment and stature in order to have greatness and that is virtue.

Every person desserves honor according to their merit. This varies according to each act. But if a person does a worthy deed yet is a despicable person, we don’t consider them great. A healthy ego doesn't go with cowardly acts or stealing. It is absurd to say so. Healthy pride must be the crown of all the virtues. Virtue goes hand in hand with great accomplishments to produce honor. A noble act done out of cheating is disqualified and impure. This makes it harder to find people of true greatness since some have good character and nobility without the means and others have the means without good character.  A great person will be more concerned about doing what is honorable. He will be pleased when good men honor him for the good things he does. He will hate getting honor from people who don’t know him or for trifling things. A great person has a strong sense of justice. The interesting thing about a great person is that he isn't anxious about seeking greatness. He holds things loosely while using moderation toward wealth and power. He isn't obsessed with retaining them nor does he gloat when he receives them. Positions to him are an honor and they require diligence. He expects the same out of those he works with. This can make him contemptible to coworkers at times.

Sometimes we confuse fortune with greatness. People who are born into it or have earned wealth are thought to automatically be superior to everyone else. These people tend to have more of a problem with pride since so many people equate greatness with wealth. The truth is that without goodness a person isn't worthy of honor. Those with great possessions that lack virtue have nothing to be proud of. A person can be insolent and disdainful even if they are rich. This kind of person has a hard time with riches and due to the feeling of superiority will treat others bad and have unreasonable demands. They imitate a great person whenever they can but their true colors show through by how they treat others. A great person will despise justly and hate things that are truly wrong because his head is on straight. But the insolent person despises randomly. You never know what is going to make him mad.

This has been good so far and we will continue examining having a healthy ego..