LIST 2 : QNS 4

The source of the phrase "pride comes before the fall" is the Bible, specifically Proverbs 16:18, which reads, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" in the New International Version. Some Bible scholars understand this verse to mean that God will discipline pride by causing or allowing events to produce humility in a person, while others simply note that pride produces carelessness that can lead to serious errors. Whichever belief a person holds, someone who says "pride comes before the fall" usually means it as a warning that someone thinks too highly of himself or herself, and that the person in question will soon experience negative consequences because of this overconfidence.

History is full of examples when this adage has played out. Several famous battles are said to have ended in defeat because military leaders' overconfidence caused them attempt foolhardy attacks. Business leaders have made unethical and illegal decisions, thinking they will not be caught, only to lose their jobs or land in prison. In these cases and countless others, pride went before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Once when I was younger I came across this book entitled “Aesop’s Fables” and there was one that was titled, “The Fighting Cocks and the Eagle”. The story goes like this: Two game cocks were fighting fiercely to be king of the farmyard. One finally gained advantage and the other surrendered. The losing Cock slunk away and hid himself in a quiet corner, while the winner, flying up to a high wall, flapped his wings and crowed of his victory as loud as he could. An eagle sailing through the air pounced upon the winning cock and carried him off in his talons. The losing cock immediately came out of his corner, and he ruled the farmyard from that day forward.

In summary, this story is a very clear warning against boasting. People remember different versions of this moral, including the more familiar, "Pride cometh before a fall." The confusion is probably due to differing translations, as well as the fact that many common translations of the bible's Proverbs 16:18 read similarly. The "destruction" in the most common translation refers to personal destruction: an individual's fall from great stature. Since Aesop's time we've come to think of destruction as something that befalls something larger and usually inanimate.

To me, the easiest, clearest way to express the fable's moral is to say, "Excessive pride leads to inevitable comeuppance."

One occasion when I found this to be true would be the infamous story of the Titanic. When the "unsinkable" ship, the largest, most luxurious ocean liner of its time, crashed into an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912, it took more than 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers to the bottom. As the ship slipped into the North Atlantic, so, too, did the secret of how and why it sank. It seems incredible to us today that anyone could believe that 70,000 tonnes of steel could be unsinkable, but that was exactly what people in 1912 believed. Throughout history, there have been many debates on why and how the Titanic sank but there only 3 that are the most commonly agreed on to be one of contributing factors to the sinking of the Titanic. Firstly, some people say that it was Captain Smith’s fault, it was his retirement trip during his captaincy of the maiden voyage of the Titanic. All he had to do was get to New York in record time. Captain E. J. Smith said years before the Titanic's voyage, "I cannot imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that." Captain Smith ignored seven iceberg warnings from his crew and other ships. If he had called for the ship to slow down then maybe the Titanic disaster would not have happened.
The second factor would be that it was the shipbuilders’ fault, about three million rivets were used to hold the sections of the Titanic together. Some rivets have been recovered from the wreck and analysed. The findings show that they were made of sub-standard iron. When the ship hit the iceberg, the force of the impact caused the heads of the rivets to break and the sections of the Titanic to come apart. If good quality iron rivets had been used the sections may have stayed together and the ship may not have sunk.

The third factor would be that it was Captain Lord’s fault, the final iceberg warning sent to Titanic was from the Californian. Captained by Stanley Lord, she had stopped for the night about 19 miles north of Titanic. At around 11.15, Californian's radio operator turned off the radio and went to bed. Sometime after midnight the crew on watch reported seeing rockets being fired into the sky from a big liner. Captain Lord was informed but it was concluded that the ship was having a party. No action was taken by the Californian. If the Californian had turned on the radio she would have heard the distress messages from Titanic and would have been able to reach the ship in time to save all passengers.

Regardless of who was at fault, the Titanic was thought to be “unsinkable” and the safety measures prepared were insufficient as everyone had confidence in the ship that it would not be able to be sunken. This is where the moral in “Aesop’s Fables” comes into play, if everyone did not have so much confidence in the Titanic, maybe the ship could have had enough safety measures prepared to ensure the maximum number of casualties prevented instead of just trusting that the ship’s “superior build quality” would see it through even the harshest waters without fail. Hence, this overwhelming pride in the ability of the “unsinkable ship” would result in its downfall, with insufficient safety measures to ensure that as many as the passengers and crew members on board would be saved.

In conclusion, I feel that indeed the proverb “Pride comes before a fall” resonates in everyone but not necessarily in the same way. But we humans are sure to feel a sense of pride when we achieve something great and feel a sense of self-accomplishment. However, in history, it shows that it you let you pride get in over your head, trouble will surely follow.