Pride may be defined as a sense of deep respect for oneself, in another word, it is the love of oneself. Out of this feeling, we are inclined to express compassion, love and esteem towards others. We may understand that there is a direct relationship between the way we deal with ourselves and the way we treat others: internal respect and love brings external respect and love. Conversely, arrogance typically shows itself externally; Yet how does it present itself? Basically it assumes the form of contempt and sometimes a lack of respect depending on the culture we belong to. So, arrogance that forms externally is more a manifestation of the absence of love and compassion towards others.
Thus, if we apply the principle – that can be challenged though – that any external manifestation is a reflection of an internal feeling, we may state that arrogance is also the expression of a lack of love and compassion toward oneself. It seems externally that the person has a lot of self-esteem, which may be true, but narcissism isn’t really true love; it doesn’t vibrate as purely as true love. Narcissism is close to the idea of adulation, which is an exaggeration and deformation of what love is. Wisdom is a difficult path because it implies a sense of moderation or right balance which is not easy to achieve., By going over the line, we don’t deepen our love or wisdom, but instead we compromise what we had achieved so far.
Pride is related to true self love whereas arrogance implies to have stepped away from the right path. This comparison may also apply to other fields: religion is one of them. Indeed when someone, for example, becomes extremist or dogmatic, he or she has lost control due to a lack of moderation, which is a lack of wisdom, and his or her faith has become fanaticism.
