Proverbs 13:10

Only by pride cometh contention, but with the well-advised is wisdom.

Pride and humility

By a proud man we mean one who esteems himself better than others; by a humble man, one who esteems others better than himself. What are the evil effects of pride?

1. It cuts off a man from all the salutary effects of reproof, rebuke, criticism, and counsel, without which it is not possible for any of us to become wise.

2. By pride comes nothing but strife, and he loveth transgression that loveth strife. It is the pride of monarchs and nations that produces war. In the affairs of private life our pride, rather than our sense of right, usually creates, fosters, and embitters divisions, alienations, and quarrels. All the foolish extravagances of social competition are to be traced to the same source. From first to last the haughty spirit is a curse and a torment to every one, and not least to itself. It is like a cold and biting wind. It breaks the heart of the humble, it excites the passions of the wrathful, it corrupts the conduct of the weak.

3. Pride is hateful to God. The proud man, whether he knows it or not, comes into direct conflict with God; he is pitting himself against the Omnipotent. If God is to dwell in a human heart at all, it must be in one which has been emptied of all pride, one which has, as it were, thrown down all the barriers of self-importance, and laid itself open to the incoming Spirit. (R. F. Horton, D. D.)

Pride and contention

When pride and passion meet on both sides, it cannot but be that a fire will be kindled; when hard flints strike together, the sparks will fly about; but a soft, mild spirit is a great preserver of its own peace, kills the power of contests, as woolpacks, or such-like soft matter, most deaden the force of bullets. (T. Leighton.)