This is alot more serious than I wanted but it looked good to me - Rick

Pride

Pride has been both glorified and condemned by different societies and organizations through out history. It has many different connotations and definitions. It can be classified in two categories with each having many different and sometimes overlapping subcategories. One kind of pride says,"I am good at what I do and who I am. I will work at making myself better." This kind of pride implies dignity, satisfaction and confidence. This kind of pride allows other people to reach whatever potential they can. This kind of pride includes and strengthens everyone. This kind of pride is based on good will and courage.
The other category says,"I will look better than you whether I am or not." This kind of pride is usually accompanied by arrogance and intolerance. This kind of pride excludes and degrades other people. This kind of pride will try to crush anything that might be equal to or greater than its abilities. This kind of pride is based upon insecurity, fear, and cowardice.
These attitudes are contradictory. When intolerant pride is the accepted norm, it inhibits the growth and improvement of those under its influence. The progress and improvement discovered and developed by those of good will is repressed and slandered. When the pride of self respect and tolerance is the accepted norm in a group, even the coward will live in relative comfort, deserving or not. All members of the group are beneficiaries of the accomplishments of those with self respect. The arrogant and intolerant will be spurned because they seek to destroy a situation that is known by all to be good.
These two types are generalities, it is very rare to find either in its pure form. Being imperfect and human, most people have both kinds of pride within them. It is common though, for an individual to harbor more of one kind of pride than the other. The type of pride that predominates is often the result of how conscious the person is of their own thoughts, actions and motivations.
People who are controlled by their fears and insecurities often display the exclusionary form of pride. This is because they spend more time worrying about the threats that they perceive, than what can be accomplished. They are not aware of their thoughts and motivations because they spend all their energy reacting. They react instead of thinking. They let themselves be controlled by fear.
People who think about the reasons for their thoughts, actions and motivations stand a better chance of realizing the benefits of everyone succeeding. All of the most successful businesses and organizations, whether they be democratic or authoritarian in structure, realize the importance of individuals being able to make decisions and being rewarded for achievement. They encourage personal responsibility which facilitates personal dignity. They encourage the concept of the team, which emphasizes the importance of each individual's contribution. Dale Carnegie learned his "win win" philosophy from history.
The kind of pride that is adopted by a person, organization or society determines their place in history. Both their accomplishments and the way that they are remembered will be affected by the kind of pride that is embraced by a culture. History illustrates the effects of the the type of pride that permeates the civilizations of human history.
All of the great civilizations of history started out as relatively free thinking societies. From Egypt, Greece and Rome to Great Britain and The United States of America, they were all started as alliances between different tribes and peoples which were based on mutual benefit. Their declines were based on a loss of touch with reality that was based on an arrogant kind of pride which convinced them that their power, influence and accomplishments were birth rights which excluded other peoples. They were always rudely awakened and defeated by the people that they labeled as "inferior barbarians." The longetivity of each of these civilizations is an illustration of the power and success of the pride that is based on dignity and mutual respect which was a part of their creation.
Pride is only a part of a larger attitude, but the kind of pride that is chosen has a major effect on the kind of influence that a person or group has on those around them. Pride can be an unconscious urge or a conscious decision. It is a useful exercise for people to ask themselves what kind of pride they have and if it is something that they chose or something that controls them.

From
“Thoughts and Speculations”
by R.M.R.Jr.

Printed with permission of copyright holder