From Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography:

In reality, there is perhaps no one of our natural Passions so hard to subdue as Pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself. You will see it perhaps often in this History. For even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should be proud of my Humility.–

Poor Ben! If only he could have come to our time and seen how we handle the pride problem. We simply rename it “self-esteem” and call it good. Instead of being proud of our humility, we’re proud of of our pride.