THE SELF-MADE MAN "Hubris" is a very important Biblical word denoting an exaggerated self- confidence akin to arrogance. In the Garden of Eden story, all Adam and Eve had to do to stay in Paradise…
Sermon Illustrations
ONLY GOD IS GREAT Think for a moment! Louis the XIV -- the king who said, "I am the State;" Louis XIV -- the king who built Versailles: Louis XIV -- who was called "The…
VANITY Igor Stravinsky's widow, Vera, states: "I design my clothes for the reason that I know better than anyone what I have to hide." Reader's Digest
PERSONAL DIMENSIONS OF PRIDE My neighbor limped over to visit one morning, and when we asked how she had hurt herself, she said she had slipped at the supermarket. She added, "The store manager was…
GETTING CREDIT -- WITHOUT LEAVING IT TO CHANCE One day Michelangelo happened to overhear a group of people admiring his Pieta. One man attributed the sculpture to Il Gobbo, much to the chagrin of Michelangelo,…
PERSPECTIVE FROM A CEMETERY The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r. And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Awaits alike th' inevitable hour: The paths of glory lead but to the grave.…
THE PROUD MAN AND TALK The proud man will scarcely ever talk too much. He will lie in wait and drop in the epigram where it is exactly needed. He will feast upon speechless superiority,…
PRIDE IN PARENTAGE Tecumseh (1768-1813) was the chief of the American Shawnee Indians, who organized an Indian confederacy to resist white encroachments. General (later President) William Henry Harrison defeated him at Tippecanoe (1811). Tecumseh was…
LEVELS OF PRIDE The one kind of pride which is wholly damnable is the pride of the man who has something to be proud of. The pride which, proportionately speaking, does not hurt the character,…
NAME DROPPER I am all in favor of name- dropping -- names are the raisins in the rice pudding of conversation. Weare Holbrook
ONE UPSMANSHIP Diogenes visited Plato one day and perceiving that the floors were beautifully covered with carpets of the richest wool and finest dye, stamped his foot in scorn exclaiming: "Thus do I tread on…
PERSONAL INTERPRETATION Ned Shearer, the 18th Century comedian, was often very poor, and being more negligent than poor, was careless about his dress. A friend overtook him one day in the street and said to…
CHURCHILL Violet Asquith describes a conversation with Winston Churchill at the dinner table: "For a long time he remained sunk in abstraction. Then he appeared to become suddenly aware of my existence. He turned on…
MODERN POETS VISION OF PRIDE There are a number of modern (within the past hundred years) poets who have giving us powerful, colorful and picturesque visions of pride -- threadbare, poignant, and tragic. Consider these…
RICHARD CORY Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim. And he was always quietly arrayed,…
ONCE BY THE PACIFIC The shattered water made a misty din, Great waves looked over others coming in, And thought of doing something to the shore That water never did to land before. The clouds…
THE PROUD DUKE Charles Seymour, the 6th Duke of Somerset (1662-1748), was known as "The Proud Duke." His first wife was Elizabeth, heiress to the great name and fortune of the Percys, dukes of Northumberland.…
MARIA CALLAS Opera star Maria Callas signed a contract to perform at the 1958 Festival of Two Worlds at Spoleto, Italy. As she was completing the arrangements she told Gian Carlo Menotti that he was…
THE DEVIL'S DARLING SIN And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin Is pride that apes humility. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Devil's Thoughts
PRIDE AND POVERTY Poverty destroys pride. It is difficult for an empty bag to stand upright. Alexander Dumas
