Have you no pride?

[Aiwendil]

Sapphire_Flame wrote:

There is Arrogance-Pride, which is the negative connotation. This is the kind of pride associated with hard-heartedness and stubbornness. If you are lifted up in the pride of your heart, you are unwilling to accept other points of view or to negotiate on any point. This is, seemingly, what is seen frequently in Boromir, Denethor, and Saruman. They are always right and good, and anyone who even hints that they think otherwise are seen as insurgents. I think this is more of a trait of Saruman (and possibly Morgoth) than the men of Gondor.

There certainly is some connection between pride and arrogance. But I think there is a further distinction to be made here. Saruman (and probably Sauron and Morgoth, for that matter) had a kind of selfish pride. This is the sort that leads to the attitude that one is better or more important than others, and leads to selfish actions. Boromir, I would say, had a bit of this sort, insofar at least as he thought that the Stewards were now by right the rulers of Gondor (and this depends on how one reads Boromir's character). Something of the same thing can certainly be seen in many other characters - notably Feanor.

But there is a sort of pride that is also negative but that is not selfish. I am thinking here first of all of Turin. His pride was not selfish. He was in fact very easily moved to pity others, and nearly all his deeds were motivated by the desire to aid others. His fault is not one of selfishness or even really of arrogance (though it depends on exactly how one takes that word). Rather, it was "over-boldness" - he was too confident of his own ability and too reluctant to accept aid or to alter his counsel at the urging of others. This is something like your "confidence-pride", but I don't think it's quite identical. One can be proud and confident and yet be willing to accept good advice.

Of course, there's a reason all these things are collectively known by a single term. They are all related, and the lines between them often blur. Boromir had a certain amount of arrogance-pride, I think, but also a certain over-boldness. Feanor too certainly suffered from over-boldness.