The Queen of the Vices
Pride
St. Thomas treats it at II-II, q. 162. See also every passage on the topic page.
What It Is
Each line is one thing said. Authors named first use those words. Those after “in nearly the same words” say the same thing differently; point at a name to see their words.
| “pride is the appetite for excellence in excess of right reason” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 1, ad 2In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 409; Merkelbach I, n. 499; Noldin n. 336; Wouters n. 300; McHugh-Callan n. 2557; Marc n. 360; Vermeersch n. 469; Bontempi On pride, n. 46; Sabetti-Barrett n. 140 |
| The name: “for he who wishes to overstep beyond what he is, is proud” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 1In nearly the same words: Bontempi On pride, n. 2; Merkelbach I, n. 499 |
| One's own excellence, in all things: “pride seeks a certain universal excellence” | Merkelbach I, n. 499In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 409; McHugh-Callan n. 2557; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I |
| In the appetite for the arduous: “the proper object of pride is something difficult” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 3In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 499; Prümmer n. 409; McHugh-Callan n. 2557 |
| Not vainglory: “Pride is not the same as vainglory, but is the cause thereof: for pride covets excellence inordinately: while vainglory covets the outward show of excellence” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 8, ad 2In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 414; Wouters n. 456; Bontempi On pride, n. 47 |
| Why not one of the seven: “queen and mother of all the vices” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 8In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2560; Prümmer n. 411; Merkelbach II, n. 1050; Bontempi On pride, n. 35; Noldin n. 336; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I |
| “The beginning of all sin”: “not as though every sin originated from pride, but because any kind of sin is naturally liable to arise from pride” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 7, ad 1In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I; McHugh-Callan n. 2560; Bontempi On pride, n. 38; Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF HUMILITY: PRIDE |
| St. Bonaventure, in Bontempi, beside avarice the root: “it is different to say Beginning, and Root” | Bontempi On pride, n. 52 |
| The first sin: “Pride was the first sin, because by it the angels and our first parents fell” | McHugh-Callan n. 2560In nearly the same words: Bontempi On pride, n. 38; Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF HUMILITY: PRIDE |
| How it grows, after Lehmkuhl: “This excessive estimation of self is the first complete act of pride” | Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. IIn nearly the same words: Noldin n. 336 |
What It Is Not
| Desiring excellence: “to seek excellence according to itself is not evil” | Merkelbach I, n. 499In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 336; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I |
| Knowing God's gifts in oneself: “It by no means prevents us from gladly acknowledging, notwithstanding humility, the goods, whether natural or supernatural, which God has bestowed upon us” | Prümmer II, n. 712In nearly the same words: Bontempi On humility, n. 1; McHugh-Callan n. 2555 |
| Keeping one's office: “but outwardly prelates and persons constituted in dignity ought not to subject themselves to inferiors” | Prümmer II, n. 712In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2555; Merkelbach II, n. 1046 |
| Another's excellence: “Whence if a mother excessively seeks the excellence of her daughter without respect to herself, it is not properly pride, but another vice akin to pride” | Marc n. 360 |
| McHugh-Callan counts that pride: “or of those things with which the ego is identified, such as one’s own children, one’s own family, or one’s own race” | McHugh-Callan n. 2557 |
| Not disobedience: “Pride differs from disobedience: the latter is from disdain for the precept as such, the former from disdain for subjection to God” | Merkelbach II, n. 1051In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2557 |
| Not unbelief: “it belongs to pride and not to unbelief, through inordinate desire of one's own excellence, to boast of one's goods as though one had them of oneself” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 4, ad 1In nearly the same words: Bontempi On pride, n. 5 |
| The word in a good sense: “there is a good and an evil pride” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 1, ad 1 |
The Opposed Virtue
| “Pride is directly opposed to the virtue of humility” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 1, ad 3In nearly the same words: Bontempi On pride, n. 1; McHugh-Callan n. 2553 |
| By excess, say most: “pride may be opposed by excess, both to magnanimity and humility, from different points of view” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 1, ad 3In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 336; Wouters n. 456; Vermeersch n. 729 |
| By defect, say Prümmer and Merkelbach: “but by defect, pride, which is the inordinate appetite for one's own excellence” | Prümmer II, n. 715In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1047 |
| And to magnanimity: “to magnanimity, inasmuch as it tends to great things inordinately” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 1, ad 3In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 409 |
| The virtue: “the virtue by which someone, considering his defect, holds himself in low things according to his mode” | Merkelbach II, n. 1041In nearly the same words: Prümmer II, n. 712; Wouters n. 454; McHugh-Callan n. 2553; Vermeersch n. 724; Bontempi On humility, n. 1 |
| Its root: “and the principle and root of each is the reverence which someone has toward God” | Merkelbach II, n. 1042In nearly the same words: Prümmer II, n. 712; Vermeersch n. 724 |
| The foundation, by removing pride: “insofar as it removes pestiferous pride, which impedes the efficacy of divine grace” | Prümmer II, n. 713In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1043; McHugh-Callan n. 2556; Vermeersch n. 725 |
| The other extreme: “Opposed to humility by excess is inordinate self-abjection” | Prümmer II, n. 715In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1047; Wouters n. 456; St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 1, ad 3; Vermeersch n. 728; Bontempi On pride, n. 59 |
See Temperance, and what the capital vices feed.
Its Gravity
| “not to be subject to God is of its very nature a mortal sin, for this consists in turning away from God: and consequently pride is, of its genus, a mortal sin” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 5In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 500; Bontempi On pride, n. 6; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I |
| Complete pride, which will not be subject to God: “Complete pride is a mortal sin from its whole genus” | Prümmer n. 410In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 336; Wouters n. 302; McHugh-Callan n. 2559; Marc n. 361; Vermeersch n. 469; Sabetti-Barrett n. 140 |
| “but it is rarely found among men” | Prümmer n. 410In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2559 |
| Incomplete pride, keeping that subjection: “incomplete pride is indeed a venial sin from its genus” | Prümmer n. 410In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 336; Wouters n. 302; McHugh-Callan n. 2559; Marc n. 361; Vermeersch n. 469; Sabetti-Barrett n. 140 |
| Why: “for the inordinate appetite of a thing indifferent of itself is venial” | Noldin n. 336In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 410; Wouters n. 302; Marc n. 361 |
| “But accidentally it can be a grave sin, namely if it is joined with grave injury of others, or if it induces one to commit other grave sins” | Noldin n. 336In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 410; Wouters n. 302; Marc n. 361; McHugh-Callan n. 2559 |
| Merkelbach puts it by the contempt; when only implicit: “often it is venial, not only from indeliberation but also from lightness of matter” | Merkelbach I, n. 500In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I |
| By St. Gregory's four kinds: “The first two modes, since they include formal contempt of God, are mortal sin; the last two are often only venial” | Merkelbach I, n. 500In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I |
| Venial by imperfection of the act: “certain motions of pride are venial sins, when reason does not consent to them” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 5In nearly the same words: Bontempi On pride, n. 40; McHugh-Callan n. 2559 |
| The gravest by its turning from God: “pride is the most grievous of sins by its genus, because it exceeds in aversion which is the formal complement of sin” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 6In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1050; Prümmer n. 410; Bontempi On pride, n. 6; Wouters n. 302 |
| Yet below hatred of God: “Complete pride is less than hatred of God” | McHugh-Callan n. 2560In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 410; Merkelbach II, n. 1050 |
| It withstands God: “while all vices flee from God, pride alone withstands God” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 6In nearly the same words: Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF HUMILITY: PRIDE |
| A sign of the reprobate: “pride is a most evident sign of the reprobate” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 5In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 410 |
| The most dangerous: “Pride is a most dangerous vice” | Prümmer n. 410In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2560; St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 6, ad 1; Bontempi On pride, n. 36; Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF HUMILITY: PRIDE |
| Punished by other sins: “God punishes certain men by allowing them to fall into sins of the flesh” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 6, ad 3In nearly the same words: Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF HUMILITY: PRIDE |
Its Kinds
| St. Gregory's four: “when a man thinks he has from himself that which he has from God” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 4In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 409; Merkelbach I, n. 500; Wouters n. 300; Bontempi On pride, n. 4; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I |
| “when he believes that which he has received from above to be due to his own merits” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 4In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 409; Merkelbach I, n. 500; Wouters n. 300; Bontempi On pride, n. 4 |
| “boasting of having what one has not” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 4In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 409; Merkelbach I, n. 500; Wouters n. 300; Bontempi On pride, n. 4 |
| “when a man despises others and wishes to be singularly conspicuous” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 4In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 409; Merkelbach I, n. 500; Wouters n. 300; Bontempi On pride, n. 4 |
| Complete and incomplete: “Pride is distinguished as twofold, perfect and imperfect” | Wouters n. 301In nearly the same words: Marc n. 360; Sabetti-Barrett n. 140; Prümmer n. 410; Noldin n. 336 |
| Relative and absolute: “both relative, by which someone wills to excel others, implicitly at least contemning them; and absolute, by which someone simply wills to excel above that which he is, even without thinking of others” | Merkelbach I, n. 499In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I |
| Marc's three grades: “the first, by which someone wishes to stand out beyond measure among equals; the second, by which someone despises equals or inferiors; the third, by which someone on account of his own excellence despises superiors” | Marc n. 360 |
| St. Bernard's twelve degrees: curiosity, frivolity of mind, senseless mirth, boasting, singularity, arrogance, presumption, defense of one's sins, deceitful confession, rebelliousness, license, sinful habit | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 4; Prümmer n. 410; Merkelbach II, n. 1051; Bontempi On pride, n. 43; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I |
| How it shows itself: “In his external words and works, the proud man betrays himself by boasting, self-glorification, self-justification” | McHugh-Callan n. 2558In nearly the same words: Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF HUMILITY: PRIDE |
The Daughters of Pride
The headings are St. Thomas's.
| presumption | Prümmer n. 411; Merkelbach I, n. 501; Noldin n. 336; Wouters n. 303; Marc n. 361; Vermeersch n. 469; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I; Bontempi On pride, n. 11; Sabetti-Barrett n. 140 |
| ambition | Prümmer n. 411; Merkelbach I, n. 501; Noldin n. 336; Wouters n. 303; Marc n. 361; Vermeersch n. 469; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I; Sabetti-Barrett n. 140 |
| vainglory | Prümmer n. 411; Merkelbach I, n. 501; Noldin n. 336; Wouters n. 303; Marc n. 361; Vermeersch n. 469; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I; Bontempi On pride, n. 11; Sabetti-Barrett n. 140 |
| Why these three: “because they seek special excellence, have an object very close to the object of pride” | Merkelbach I, n. 501In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I; Noldin n. 336; McHugh-Callan n. 2557 |
| St. Thomas names none, since: “the end of every vice is directed to the end of pride” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 132, a. 4 |
| Others also named | |
|---|---|
| St. Bonaventure, in Bontempi: Contempt | Bontempi On pride, n. 11 |
| Marc: curiosity, ingratitude, human respects, rash judgment | Marc n. 361 |
| Sabetti-Barrett: boasting, ostentation, and hypocrisy | Sabetti-Barrett n. 140 |
| Isidore's, in Bontempi: Contempt, Envy, Disobedience, Blasphemy, Murmuring, Detraction | Bontempi On the vices opposed to magnanimit, n. 16 |
| Spirago, with cruelty, apostasy, strife, envy, ingratitude and impurity: disobedience | Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF HUMILITY: PRIDE |
The Remedies
The fuller lists are the manuals'. Where an author has no list, the entries are what that author says in passing, gathered from wherever it is said.
The headings are Merkelbach's: “one on the part of the mind, another on the part of work” (Pastoral, Q. I). He sets prayer among the works, and with it the acts of humility, the exterior and “Especially, interior acts of humility” (Pastoral, Q. I). Prümmer, Wouters and Marc give theirs without this division.
| On the part of the mind | |
|---|---|
| “The intimate and sincere knowledge of oneself” | Prümmer n. 415; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. IIn nearly the same words: Wouters n. 304; Marc n. 361; St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 6, ad 1 |
| “Consideration of the vanity and transitoriness of the goods in which we are wont to glory” | Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. IIn nearly the same words: Marc n. 361; St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 6, ad 1 |
| “by considering God's greatness” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 6, ad 1 |
| “Contemplation of the humility of Christ” | Prümmer n. 415In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 304; Marc n. 361; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I; St. Thomas III, q. 1, a. 2; Roman Catechism Article III: “Who Was Conceived by the Holy |
| “Weigh the hatred by which God rejects and punishes the proud, while He affects the humble with benefits” | Wouters n. 304In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I |
| “fear cuts off the source of pride” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 19, a. 9, ad 4 |
| On the part of work | |
| “assiduous prayer” | Marc n. 361In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I; Spirago III. SPECIAL MEANS FOR THE ATTAINMENT OF PER |
| “The continual exercise of humility” | Prümmer n. 415In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 304; Marc n. 361; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. I; St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 5, ad 2; Spirago OBEDIENCE |
| “interior acts of humility by which before God we sincerely judge ourselves vile, desire lowly things for ourselves, and wish all glory exclusively to God alone” | Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. IIn nearly the same words: Bontempi On humility, n. 5 |
| Bearing humiliations: “if she is prone to pride, she should take particular care to humble herself before all, and to bear patiently all the humiliations that she receives from others” | St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. VIIn nearly the same words: St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. XI |
| St. Bonaventure, in Bontempi: “simple Obedience, subjection, the showing of humility toward all, exercise in humble works; to walk with humble bearing, in humble habit, to flee honors, always to choose to minister rather than to be ministered to” | Bontempi Question VIII: On pride, n. 42 |
| “the Sacraments repress and subdue the pride of the human heart, and exercise us in the practice of humility” | Roman Catechism The Sacraments in General |
| “An excellent exercise of humility, by which the ruinous pride of the sinner is subdued.” | Prümmer III, n. 359 |
| “the most efficacious remedy against pride” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 187, a. 5 |
Where Each Author Treats It
| Among the capital sins | Prümmer nn. 409-415; Merkelbach I, nn. 499-502; Noldin n. 336; Wouters nn. 300-304; Marc nn. 360-361; Vermeersch nn. 469-470; Sabetti-Barrett n. 140 |
| Under humility, against it | St. Thomas II-II, qq. 161-162; Prümmer II, nn. 712-715; Merkelbach II, nn. 1041-1051; Wouters nn. 454-456; McHugh-Callan nn. 2553-2560; Vermeersch nn. 724-729; Bontempi On pride |