--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pride is both a virtue and a vice." description: "\"Pride is both a virtue and a vice.\" — Theodore Parker" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/theodore-parker-4457_character_pride-is-both-a-virtue-and-a-vice-323138_3231380.png" --- # Pride is both a virtue and a vice. ![“Pride is both a virtue and a vice.” quote by Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/theodore-parker-4457_character_pride-is-both-a-virtue-and-a-vice-323138_3231380.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/theodore-parker-4457_character_pride-is-both-a-virtue-and-a-vice-323138_3231380.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/theodore-parker-4457_character_pride-is-both-a-virtue-and-a-vice-323138_3231380.png) > “Pride is both a virtue and a vice.” [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pride can inspire confidence and achievement but also lead to arrogance and downfall. **In simple terms:** Pride has good and bad sides. Key Takeaway Balance confidence with humility. Themes virtue vice self‑esteem Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - leadership - personal growth - social interactions Key Concepts pride dual nature Questions to Reflect On - When does pride help versus hinder you? - How can you recognize pride’s negative turn? A Different Perspective Pride may blind self‑assessment and harm relationships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) [Vice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vice/) [Vices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vices/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Virtue and vice are both prophets; the first, of certain good; the second, of pain or else of penitence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-venning/virtue-and-vice-are-both-prophets-the-first-of-certain-good-the/) [Ralph Venning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-venning/) > [We simply must get it through our heads that holding a low opinion of ourselves is not a virtue, but a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-maltz/we-simply-must-get-it-through-our-heads-that-holding-a-low-opinion-of/) [Maxwell Maltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-maltz/) > [There are two sorts of content; one is connected with exertion, the other with habits of indolence. The first is a virtue; the other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-edgeworth/there-are-two-sorts-of-content-one-is-connected-with-exertion-the/) [Maria Edgeworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-edgeworth/) > [We pass for what we are. Character teaches above our wills. Men imagine that they communicate thier virtue or vice by overt actions, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-pass-for-what-we-are-character-teaches-above-our-wills-men-imagine/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Though pride is not a virtue, it is the parent of many virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-churton-collins/though-pride-is-not-a-virtue-it-is-the-parent-of-many-virtues/) [John Churton Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-churton-collins/) > [He must put aside his pride, his virtue, beauty and life and bow or submit to the absolutely intolerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/he-must-put-aside-his-pride-his-virtue-beauty-and-life-and-bow-or/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [But virtue too, as well as vice, is clad in flesh and blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/but-virtue-too-as-well-as-vice-is-clad-in-flesh-and-blood/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [“Forgive me this my virtue; For in the fatness of these pursy times Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg- Yea, curb and woo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/forgive-me-this-my-virtue-for-in-the-fatness-of-these-pursy-times/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Virtue by calculation is the virtue of vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/virtue-by-calculation-is-the-virtue-of-vice/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Your virtue is a vice when you are self-righteous about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-virtue-is-a-vice-when-you-are-self-righteous-about-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Weakness is more opposed to virtue than is vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/weakness-is-more-opposed-to-virtue-than-is-vice/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [For in the fatness of these pursy times Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/for-in-the-fatness-of-these-pursy-times-virtue-itself-of-vice-must/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, sir, when he leaves our houses let us count…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-he-does-really-think-that-there-is-no-distinction-between-virtue/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Every virtue is a mean between two extremes, each of which is a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/every-virtue-is-a-mean-between-two-extremes-each-of-which-is-a-vice/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## More by Theodore Parker > [That which is called liberality is frequently nothing more than the vanity of giving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/that-which-is-called-liberality-is-frequently-nothing-more-than-the/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [Every man has at times in his mind the Ideal of what he should be, but is not. This ideal may be high and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/every-man-has-at-times-in-his-mind-the-ideal-of-what-he-should-be-but/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one. . . . But from what I see I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/i-do-not-pretend-to-understand-the-moral-universe-the-arc-is-a-long/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [For a thousand years no king in Christendom has shown such greatness or given so high a type of manly virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/for-a-thousand-years-no-king-in-christendom-has-shown-such-greatness/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [Let us do our duty in our shop or our kitchen, in the market, the street, the office, the school, the home, just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/let-us-do-our-duty-in-our-shop-or-our-kitchen-in-the-market-the/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [Temperance is corporeal piety; it is the preservation of divine order in the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/temperance-is-corporeal-piety-it-is-the-preservation-of-divine-order/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [Science is the natural ally of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/science-is-the-natural-ally-of-religion/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [The lottery of honest labor, drawn by time, is the only one whose prizes are worth taking up and carrying home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/the-lottery-of-honest-labor-drawn-by-time-is-the-only-one-whose/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [The joy of heaven will begin as soon as we attain the character of heaven, and do its duties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/the-joy-of-heaven-will-begin-as-soon-as-we-attain-the-character-of/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [The books that help you the most are those which make you think the most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/the-books-that-help-you-the-most-are-those-which-make-you-think-the/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [Mankind never loses any good thing, physical, intellectual, or moral, till it finds a better, and then the loss is a gain. No steps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/mankind-never-loses-any-good-thing-physical-intellectual-or-moral/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [Manly natural religion - it is not joining the Church; it is not to believe in a creed, Hebrew, Protestant, Catholic, Trinitarian, Unitarian, Nothingarian.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/manly-natural-religion-it-is-not-joining-the-church-it-is-not-to/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [The books which help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is by easy reading; every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/the-books-which-help-you-most-are-those-which-make-you-think-the-most/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [What succeeds we keep, and it becomes the habit of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/what-succeeds-we-keep-and-it-becomes-the-habit-of-mankind/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) > [Wit has its place in debate; in controversy it is a legitimate weapon, offensive and defensive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/wit-has-its-place-in-debate-in-controversy-it-is-a-legitimate-weapon/) [Theodore Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) [Explore all 110 Theodore Parker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) David Hudgins > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Pride is both a virtue and a vice.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Theodore Parker" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/pride-is-both-a-virtue-and-a-vice/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/pride-is-both-a-virtue-and-a-vice/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/theodore-parker-4457_character_pride-is-both-a-virtue-and-a-vice-323138_3231380.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/theodore-parker-4457_character_pride-is-both-a-virtue-and-a-vice-323138_3231380.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/theodore-parker-4457_character_pride-is-both-a-virtue-and-a-vice-323138_3231380.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Pride is both a virtue and a vice.” — Theodore Parker", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Theodore Parker", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-parker/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Pride is both a virtue and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/pride-is-both-a-virtue-and-a-vice/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-parker/pride-is-both-a-virtue-and-a-vice/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```