PRIDE AND MODESTY

Accept Reality

PRIDE is the root cause of all evils. And modesty is the source of all virtues. A human being’s personality is largely defined by these two traits. One who is proud will, in every respect, have a deplorable personality, while one who is modest will possess all desirable qualities.

A society whose people are of a proud nature will be a jungle of negative psychology. It is natural that in every society there will be some, more privileged individuals and some less so. If a person considers the less privileged as inferior to him, it bolsters his pride. On the other hand, if he sees someone who is more privileged than him, he feels jealous. With such people in a society, no one can be in a normal state of mind.

A truly modest person will look at all matters in relation to God, rather than in relation to human beings.

The matter of modesty is contrary to this. A truly modest person will look at all matters in relation to God, rather than in relation to human beings. He will consider even a ‘common’ man an important person. He will not look at the human relationships as a case of man versus man, but as a case of man with respect to God. Such thinking will put an end to any pride or jealousy which might otherwise have tarnished his personality. The modest man thinks that the greatest task ahead of him is to introspect, learn of his shortcomings, and reform himself. Through introspection, he becomes aware of his responsibilities and works on ways to fulfill them.

Modesty is another name for acknowledging reality, while pride is another name for the denial of reality. In this world, the acknowledgement of reality is the source of all virtues, while the denial of reality is the source of all evil.