quotes of the week

This book has been on my list to read for a long time. It is quoted often by Church leaders and is on all of the lists of "most influential books ever written." So, when it was my turn to pick the book for book club, I picked it. I am so glad I did. I have never underlined so much in a book--it is full of great thoughts and insights. I loved the book and highly recommend it. There are way too many quotes to choose just one, so I am sharing a few from the chapter, "The Great Sin."

"Now what you want to get clear is that Pride is essentially competitive--is competitive by its very nature...Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest."

"Nearly all those evils in the world which people put down to greed or selfishness are really far more the result of Pride."

"The Christians are right: it is Pride which has Been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But pride always means enmity--it is enmity to God."

"The devil laughs. He is perfectly content to see you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided, all the time, he is setting up in you the Dictatorship of Pride....The devil loves "curing" a small fault by giving you a great one."

In describing what a humble person is, he said, "Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. he will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all."