Virtuous Living (10 of 13): Pride
by Joseph Rowlands
Now let's go to the virtue of Pride. Rand describes Pride as "the recognition of the fact that you are your own highest value and, like all of man's values, it has to be earned".
The moral principle here is that you need to want to live. You need to make your life the ultimate value, and to appreciate it as such. You need to like who you are, and think of yourself as worthy of living. You need to trust yourself to do the right thing. You need to believe in your ability to live effectively. Most important of all, though, is that you have to earn all of this. It can't be faked. You need to be trustworthy. You need to be effective at living. You need to make your life valuable.
The value being pursued here is self-esteem. Pride aims at the value of loving yourself and your life. The importance of self-esteem should be easily seen. Without valuing your own life, no other values are possible. You will lack motivation or will. You will attack yourself, instead of seeking values. Your entire life will be undercut by your view of it as an unworthy task.
So how does one practice Pride? In the Passive view, you would objectively recognize your moral worth. You would accept your strengths and abilities. You would see accomplishments for what they are, and focus on your good qualities. In other words, you will not ignore your good qualities. You will not attack yourself without reason. You will not attempt any undue modesty.
Now the Active form of Pride is interesting. Not only does it tell you to take credit for your accomplishments, and see the good in you, but it also tells you go get out there and accomplish things. If you want self-esteem, earn it! If you want to feel you're capable of dealing with your life, your job, your relationship, learn to be capable. If you want to feel that you can accomplish big goals, go out and do it. If you want to feel that you are a morally good person worthy of happiness, become one by practicing the virtue of Integrity.
If you want pride, do something worth being proud about. Pride as a virtue demands that you prove yourself to yourself. It involves self-improvement of every sort. It means making your life glorious and wonderful, so you will enjoy it. It means improving your ability to live, and your will to live it.
Become the person you've always wanted to be. Take something you enjoy, like playing the piano, and learn to excel at it. Finish your project at work ahead of schedule. Try a new sport, and put everything you've got into it. Write articles for SoloHQ. Make a bunch of money.
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