Hubris

• Author: Kenneth P. Nolan
• Pages: 161-163

Hubris

161

I could never understand how pride could be a sin, even though

I was taught it was the worst—worse than murder or stealing or

gluttony or lust, whatever that was. Adam and Eve’s pride got them

tossed out of Eden, which I thought was no big deal since Paradise

sounded pretty boring except for the nude part. Eating fruit in some

verdant garden under a tree sounded a bit like hell to me. Now, if

they had been scarfing down a slice at Mom’s pizzeria on Prospect

Park West after a few hours of playing basketball in the schoolyard—

that, my friends, would have been heaven.

Of course, as I’ve aged and personally experienced (if not com-

mitted) all seven cardinal sins, and not only once, I realize what I

learned was accurate. Everyone’s a little greedy and the whole coun-

try is fat—so, some sins are, well, accepted. Maybe because I now

stop and actually look around the shiny, expensive table at a deposi-

tion or scan the high-ceilinged, elaborate courtroom, I realize more

actions are taken because of ego and conceit than for any other rea-

sons. Insisting on taking the deposition or arguing the motion; hog-

ging the telephone conference; treating associates and staff like crap;

refusing to listen; claiming to know everyone and everything; never,

ever being wrong. Now, these flaws—usually the products of per-

sonal pride—may not land you in Hades for eternity, but they hap-

pen all too frequently, demeaning the individual and our profession.