What is the difference bewteen vanity and pride?

Answer 1

It's a subtle difference, but a substantial one.

If you have some personal quality or have engaged in activity that is good and you appreciate that fact, then you are proud. Pride in this sense - as an acknowledgement of the good things about yourself - is not usually considered bad at all.

Some people have a different kind of pride which the Greeks would call 'hubris' and others would tend to call 'arrogance'. This kind of pride is a leash instead of an acknowledgement... it can be characterized by the idea that you are "too good" to do some things or associate with some people. But it is based on actual qualities that you have that do make you good (at least in your eyes).

On the other hand, if you believe yourself to be good but there is no factual basis for this belief, you are suffering from vanity. One of the more common types of vanity is for people to believe that they are far more attractive than they are, but it is hardly the only one. Many vain people also behave like arrogant ones - they use their imagined goodness to treat other people like garbage.

If you have pride but not arrogance, then you may also be humble or modest. A humble person doesn't think they're less capable than they are... they just don't believe their own goodness makes them intrinsically better than other people. Sometimes 'humble' is used to describe something in almost the opposite position too - something with few good qualities but also unashamed.

So in short (too late, I know), the difference between vanity and pride is whether your good qualities are imaginary or real.

Answer 2

Vanity means pursuing or valuing things that have little real value. Therefore what you call vanity depends on what you consider important and what you believe will make you a better person. One person may consider having an expensive car genuinely important while another would call it vanity.

Pride is feeling good about yourself for some reason. It might be something you do, or possess, or just someone you know. Pride can be a good thing when it leads to positive acts like studying hard or giving charity. But it may also thought of as a sin if the end goal is to feel good about yourself rather than simply to perform a good deed. Pride is basically self-centered.

You might feel pride about something even though you believe it's not important, like a woman might be proud of her long red hair because it makes her feel good about herself, but at the same time know it is just vanity and unimportant. Perhaps she might feel a little worse about herself for being vain.

On the other hand, you might be proud that your children are well taken care of, but you won't think it's vanity because you consider it very important.

Also, vanity doesn't necessarily lead to pride, because you might pursue something and not get it. For example, someone might dye their hair red out of vanity, but the process goes horribly wrong and their hair turns green. They won't be proud, but the act itself could be considered vain.

Answer 3

Pride is from inside and Vanity is from outside

Answer 4

I would say vanity has a sense of arrogance about it. How you look, your social status. You're probably careful not to hurt your vanity....maybe reputation, appearance, and impression. Excessive pride?

Pride would be something you're truly proud of. Pride is not formed around society.

Answer 5

Vanity is a more specific pride, focusing only on your looks. Pride is when you think of yourself highly in everything (or at least a lot of things).

Answer 6

Vanity is the product you search for in a mirror.
Pride is a feeling that comes from inside.

Answer 7

Pride is deserved. Vanity is pride without justification.

Answer 8

Pride has to do with what you accomplish what you have the things you can do better than others...vanity has to do with thinking all of these things about yourself and no one else agrees with you and you can't prove it by absollutely nothing you do....you can't prove you are the prettiest person in the world, you can't prove you drive the best car, etc.

Answer 9

I think of vanity as specifically pride for your physical appearance. You can be proud but not vain.

Answer 10

Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others.
"Vanity is the fear of appearing original: it is thus a lack of pride, but not necessarily a lack of originality." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Pride refers to a strong sense of self-respect, a refusal to be humiliated as well as joy in the accomplishments of oneself or a person, group, or object that one identifies with.
Many major religions, using "pride" in the sense of "hubris" or "arrogance", denounce it: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Tao.
Pride is found in someone who won’t give up and someone who refuses to settle for anything less than respect.