The function of the rebel is to shake the fixated mores of the rigid order of civilization; and this shaking, though painful, is necessary if the soc… - Rollo May

Much self-condemnation, thus, is a cloak for arrogance. Those who think they overcome pride by condemning themselves could well ponder Spinoza's remark, 'One who despises himself is the nearest to a proud man'. In ancient Athens, when a politician was trying to get the votes of the working class by appearing very humble in a tattered coat with big holes in it, Socrates unmasked his hypocrisy by exclaiming, 'Your vanity shows forth from every whole in your coat'.

Vanity and narcissism — the compulsive need to be admired and praised — undermine one's courage, for one then fights on someone else's conviction rather than one's own.

It is the seeming contradiction that we must be fully committed, but we must also be aware at the same time that we might possibly be wrong.