Pride never killed us

Georgia is a country I was born in and I grew up here. So, as you would already understand, I have some strange love about this country. I know its history, I know its good and bad sides and many things about it, that I have obtained from school, books, people around me, TV, magazines... I am proud that I am a Georgian and I love my country as it is, but I want it to be better, of course. As it is said in one of my favourite Georgian poets _ Lado Asatiani's rhyme, although Georgia is beautiful, I want it to be more beautiful. I don't know how to translate it more accurately, and, personally, I think, translating pieces of literature, especially, poems and rhymes and stuff like that is not right. One should learn that language and read it himself in the original language. 

"It might be a good idea if the various countries of the world would occasionally swap history books, just to see what other people are doing with the same set of facts. -Bill Vaughan, journalist (1915-1977)" Yes. Why not? Because when you're busy being too proud about your country, maybe it's better to see what other countries have done and understand a little about them too.

"Pride comes before a fall" is a wise saying that means if you are too confident about your abilities, something bad will happen which shows that you are not as good as you think. This can be quoted from the Bible as well as in Proverbs 16:18.

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” This is where the famous saying “Pride comes before the fall” comes from. The Bible states through this verse that a man who is prideful or overconfident will come to be destroyed and those who are arrogant will fall. One reason why people who are overconfident or too proud tend to live lives that lead to destruction is because pride often blinds a man. When someone is too proud to do something, even if it is in their best interest, the pride is taking over their head. They ignore their natural instinct, like accepting help from someone, and try to take care of things themselves.... the spirit of pride will always come right before destruction and a major fall.

I believe that there is a good kind of pride and a bad kind of pride.

The good kind of pride may be described as:

• Proper respect for one-self, self-respect
• A reasonable or justifiable self-respect
• Sense of one’s own dignity and self-worth
• Delight or satisfaction in one’s own or another’s achievements

However, as with anything else that may start out good – there is always the danger of possible excess. What starts out as a simple and a humble type of pride can start to grow into something much more deadly if a person does not properly keep on top of it.

The negative kind of pride can be described as:

• An unduly high opinion of oneself
• Exaggerated self-esteem, conceit
• Haughty behavior resulting from arrogance
• An improper and excessive self-esteem known as conceit and arrogance
• An inflated ego
• Boasting
• Haughty person

After all these we can see what the real differences are between the good and bad kinds of pride. And there are many examples from life about the two kinds of pride. For instance, if a child returns from school and tells her mother she got a high grade, her mother usually tells her how proud she is of her.

To sum up, the saying that “pride will come before the fall” is an universal truth understood by everyone. We can see it even  in our personal lives …

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” (Proverbs 27:1)

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