There is one addiction of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves.

I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their head when it comes to girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I don’t think I have ever heard anyone who was a non-Christian accuse himself of this addiction. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a non-Christian, who showed the slightest mercy towards it in others.

There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.

The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the center of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now, we have come to the center. According to Christian teachers, the supreme addiction, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other addiction: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.

— C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity Chapter 8

This is a book I advise all Christians to read as well as those who want to become Christians. C.S. Lewis makes intelligent arguments which serve as solid foundations for your faith. I don’t recommend books very often, but you shouldn’t miss out on this one.

You’ll thank me later.

Mere Christianity