Restoring pride

Rejecting the popular notion that everyone is equal and, therefore, ought to be equally proud, Richard Taylor defines pride as justified love of oneself. What justifies this self-love is personal excellence, that is, actual achievement of the kind that sets a proud person apart from the rest. Examples of the justifiably proud include Socrates, Ludwig van Beethoven, Malcolm X, Willa Cather, Pablo Picasso, and Amelia Earhart. However, pride is not a virtue reserved only for the famous.

People unknown to the world often possess a greatness equal to that of the most renowned heroes. The truly proud are those who excel in some worthwhile area, be it literature, science, or good parenting. Their excellence is based on some ability or strength that they exploit to its fullest potential.

. Restoring Pride is "elitist" in that it acknowledges that some people are better as human beings than others, and that they have made themselves so by perfecting their natural talents. The idea of the Sermon on the Mount, that the poor and the meek are blessed, is repudiated. Instead, Taylor embraces the classical Greek ideal of virtue as personal excellence without any suggestion that everyone is equal in worth.

The proud, setting the rules and standards for themselves, are apt to be looked on as unconventional. However, one invariable rule guides their behavior toward others: considerateness. The same egalitarian standard applies to their treatment under the law in a democratic society.

While concerned with the rules of manners, Restoring Pride is not a book of etiquette. Making no effort at "political correctness," it espouses, in a straightforward and jargon-free style, an ideal of life, exhorting us all to explore and cultivate the gifts within us, and thus to enjoy the fruits of genuine pride.