“Bruce Lee on Self-Actualization and the Crucial Difference Between Pride and Self-Esteem” – The Marginalian

At the root of our misguided grasping at self-worth, is a confusion between pride and self-esteem.Pride is a sense of worth derived from something that is not part of us, while self-esteem derives from the potentialities and achievements of self. We are proud when we identify ourselves with an imaginary self, a leader, a holy cause, a collective body of possessions. There is fear and intolerance in pride; it is insensitive and uncompromising. The less promise and potency in the self, the more imperative is the need for pride. The core of pride is self-rejection.