C. S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, refers to pride as “the essential vice” and “the utmost evil.” As compared to pride, he refers to the other vices as “mere fleabites.” He makes a pretty good case for his point:
“Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich or clever or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer or cleverer or better looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud; the pleasure of being above the rest…. Greed may drive man into competition if there is not enough to go round; but the proud man, even when he has got more than he can possibly want, will try to get still more….
Lewis has me convinced.
It occurs to me... 