Category: VAINGLORY

  • the man who is born with enough to live upon is generally of a somewhat independent turn of mind; he is accustomed to keep his head up; he has not learned all the arts of the beggar; perhaps he even presumes a little upon the possession of talents which, as he ought to know, can never compete with cringing mediocrity; in the long run he comes to recognize the inferiority of those who are placed over his head, and when they try to put insults upon him, he becomes refractory and shy. This is not the way to get on in the world.

    The Wisdom of Life
    Arthur Schopenhauer

  • Withdrawnness, on the other hand, represents the exact
    opposite of spirituality; this is because it constitutes the
    soul’s revolving around “Me, Myself and I.”

    For a withdrawn person, worship revolves around himself
    not around the Lord. His prayers will not probe the depths
    of his soul, soaring with it to the Lord’s heavenly heights.
    Rather, he locks himself up within his soul, seeking to submit the Lord to his own self. His prayers therefore only serve to appease his conscience and to elicit praise from others or even from himself. Such a person would not know how to talk candidly to the Lord as His Father. Fasting would only be practised to satisfy the person’s ego. He would talk much about himself seeking his and others’ admiration for his fasting and worship!

    Finally, when that person confesses, he would neither be broken-hearted nor contrite before the Holy Spirit; rather, he would have lengthy accounts of his iniquities with his Father in confession, with no hint of regret or repentance. His primary objective is to solicit his confessor’s attention and sympathy. He might even go so far as to serve and to evangelize, without knowing how to preach repentance to his own soul. He delights in the appearance of his service, and in everyone’s interest in him and his work.

    From Heart to Heart
    Fr. Tadros Y. Malaty

  • Often, with enough time off, our thirst to be well known for certain superficial qualities dies down or fades away, we discover how easily and happily we can enjoy life without constantly thinking about refashioning our image, and it becomes easier to recognize the emptiness and superficiality of most of the goods vainglory inclines us to pursue.

    Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies
    Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung

  • We can start small, trying to take the spotlight off ourselves. Would it be difficult, for a single day, to let our actions speak for themselves, without defending ourselves when we suspect others are being critical? How hard would it be not to look in the mirror at all, or store windows, or reflections, and to refrain from asking others about our appearance? Could we listen to others, while refraining from conversation about ourselves—without telling stories about ourselves, recounting our own version of events, or offering an account of our own feelings? Reflecting when the day is over can reveal how much mental effort and conversation and activity we devote daily to enhancing our image in the eyes of others or calling attention to ourselves to make others approve of us. Are we engaging in activities from a desire to win recognition and renown or because we think they are genuinely important and worthwhile in themselves?

    Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies
    Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung

  • Two spiritual disciplines in particular pull some weight against vainglory—silence and solitude.

    Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies
    Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung

  • It’s ironic that the art of impressing others and gaining applause involves carefully hiding ourselves just as much as it involves showing ourselves off to advantage.

    Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies
    Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung

  • Do not sell your labours for people’s esteem, nor hand over the future glory for the sake of paltry fame, for human esteem settles in the dust (cf. Ps. 7: 6) and its reputation is extinguished on earth, but the glory of virtue abides for eternity.

    —Evagrius of Pontus

    Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies
    Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung

  • The worst sort of vainglory, however, according to Thomas Aquinas, occurs when we fail to give due glory to God as the source of our good.

    Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies
    Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung

  • In vainglory we seek only the “manifestation of excellence,” that is, we want more than anything to be well known and widely known.


    Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies
    Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung

  • Unlike the vainglorious, however, the ambitious seek honor not from just anyone, but rather from those with the requisite taste or expertise. In pride, we desire to be genuinely superior; in ambition, we want to be respected by “the right people.”

    Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies
    Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung