Pride is a value that’s as positive as negative. It’s a feeling of satisfaction of one’s self-esteem and dignity (see dignity).

Pride refers to the act of being satisfied with yourself and your accomplishments, to love who you are, to have a positive view of yourself. You can be proud of your origins, of your culture, of your identity. You can also be proud of yourself when you have reached a goal, especially when you felt that you couldn’t do it.

You can also be proud of someone else : seeing a loved one succeed in life, embrace their identity can give us a feeling of pride.

In those cases, pride is a positive feeling that gives us great satisfaction, improves one’s self-confidence (cf self-confidence) and pushes us to outdo ourselves even more.

However, pride can also lead to arrogance. That’s why it’s one of the seven deadly sins. A person who is too proud can feel superior to others and despise them.

For some, pride is mostly about dignity and honor (cf honor). For example, during a conflict, one can refuse to apologize and admit that they’re wrong because they think that it would harm their dignity. An individual who’s too proud can also refuse to do certain things because they think that it would ruin their image and reputation.

No matter if it’s positive or negative, someone’s pride can change according to the way they compare themselves to others. The arrogant are proud because they think they’re better than everyone else. But without arrogance, we can be proud of who we are by seeing others embrace their identity. We’re proud of an accomplishment because we see how far we can go.

We consider arrogance as a flaw, or a sin, but we all need to be proud of ourselves to have the strength (see strength) and motivation to persevere in life.