Title: Pride-art
Subject: An article on Pride by an unknown author.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: pride chivarly ideal SCA honor

Pride-art - 1/31/01

An article on Pride by an unknown author. Specific application to the SCA.

NOTE: See also the files: A-Peer-Within-art, Fndng-T-Dream-art, The-Blow-art, 
Chivalry-art, fealty-art, Baronial-Lead-art.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that
I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some
messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium.
These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with
seperate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes
extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were
removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I
make  no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given  by the
individual authors.

Please  respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  these
messages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear  at this
time. If  information  is  published  from  these  messages, please give
credit to the orignator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
    mark.s.harris@motorola.com            stefan@florilegium.org
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NOTE: The original author was not credited in this email I received. If
anyone can give me the name of the author so that I may credit him or her, please contact me.
                Stefan

Subject: Fw:  long but worth the read
Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2000 19:15:29 -0500

I forwarded this to the Trimaris List for the reason that it is one of 
the finest difinitions of how we must act within the SCA and the
differences between the emotions we feel considering our acts, 
acheivements or goals.
-  YIS, ELric

<Snipped>
There is nothing wrong with Pride but it must be tempered.

Pride, is a vice of inequality. A prideful person will want no equal or peer and wishes to stand above or alone. So preached Lull in his  13th c. Book of Chivalry. But pride is also what drives us to better ourselves.

If we take pride in our fighting (or other endeavors) we attain a  higher level of prowess or achievment. It can lead us to seek a higher level of integrity and responsibility. Our actions are better on the field, we care how we treat ourselves and others as well as how we are perceived by ourselves and others. It is what makes us do a job well done. 

Where we must show temperance is when Pride becomes its more evil and darker manifestation of Vainglory. It can and has been said that Vainglory is the most dangerous of sins combating virtue. Possibly because its danger lies in the fact that it is a part of human nature and therefore is always present. It is this foggy and murky border that causes most of the problems we encounter within the SCA (and probably society in general.) The darker side of Pride, that most damaging to honor, Vainglory, is inflicted on even the most puissant of individuals, the detriment being that paramours that we hold in high esteem can easily succumb to its effects. Its seduction being the desire to be right and they can no doubt rationalize the reason for their actions with very solid explanations and valid arguments only to have integrity lost. A few truths acting as supports to hold up a decaying building of lies and denial and rationalization. Whenever the building caves in the only thing left standing will be those supports, yet we will still weep at the loss of the building as a whole.

On a darker note it is that inequality that makes individuals desire something or an accolade so much that they will sell out honor for it and then become bitter and disillusioned when and if they do not receive it.

Watch someone who thinks they are on the "short list" for peerage. It is in the search for this self perceived glory or renown that people will go through the motions and tick off a checklist but do they really believe in what they are doing? Is there integrity in their actions? Or are they going through the motions in the hope that they will be recognized for their efforts looking only for the recognition and perceived glory not the outcome. 

Honor is lost through the absence of integrity. A simple question to ask, but one that speaks volumes in my frame of reference is "Why do you want to be a Knight?" The only real difficulty in the question being that will they answer honestly or what they think you want to hear? So you can see how that simple pride can easily lead to more dangerous and darker regions, bolstering anger, envy and worse vainglory.
 
We have tools at our disposal to combat these opposites of virtue. Weapons in our arsenal that if used in time and properly we can avoid the pitfall and only achieve virtuous renown. Those weapons being the virtues of strength and courage, integrity, faith, and most importantly humility. The importance of humility in that true humility or sincere humility keeps vainglory contained. If it is false it only leads to self denial and delves deeper into the abyss. By maintaining humility we do not allow praise, false or true, to dictate our actions and thus succumb to vanity's allure.

By maintaining an awareness of our actions, our limitations and our faults we stay firmly planted in reality. We borrow from integrity to keep this foundation firm. Our strength and courage in that we know what is right and wrong and even if it works against our desires our strength and our faith in virtue will see us through. There may not be big rewards, but that is what humility is about. The reward comes in knowing that honor is maintained and served. A good example might be, we fought our best fight and even though we lost, we are strengthened in knowing that we fought our best, honestly and that we gracefully accepted defeat. 

This is demonstrated much more visibly in the recent pas d'armes movement in Trimaris. The emphasis is not put on the outcome, but in the action. Thus pride is put second and we keep vainglory in check. When an action sours and is counterproductive, it must be corrected. This is the physical attribute of humility. A righting of the wrong, so to speak. Some sort of correction through action or words must be made and the value of this action is in the sincerity of it. To be able to admit you were wrong or that you beg forgiveness for some wrong done, that you are truly and sincerely sorry goes a long way to correct things and perpetuate chivalry. Those that go a step further and demonstrate some act of contrition that furthers the cause of honor is the mark of true honor and sincerity. Because it is for the sake of furthering honor and to perpetuate honorable behavior. 

Earl Brion Thornbird adds the attribute, nobility of grace to humility. In his words, "humility is a virtue that confers a gentleness that does not denude from strength, courage or any honorable virtue."

If we were truly happy with our actions and confident in our abilities we would be less seduced by pride and vainglory. We love to beat on the drum of self awareness and independence, taking great pride in our ability to be individuals and how different we are. We throw to the wind our worries about what others may think of us when it comes to relationships, physical appearance, dress, foibles and likes and taste. It mystifies me why then we become so worried by what others think of us based upon a belt or chain or medallion. Is it not satisfaction enough that you feel that you are doing a good job, or that you fight well or are an artisan with a desirable craft or talent? It is easy to become so enamored with pride that we overlook that which must be returned for this renown. It opens the door to vainglory and thus the loss of virtue. By being so over prideful or vainglorius we cheapen the value of virtue. The desire outweighs the reward and thus is meaningless. It is through virtues like humility that we combat the wrong in our actions and keeps us striving for that something better. Self improvement is never a bad thing, especially when many usually benefit from its journey.

Benen

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	Pride-art