Arrogant: (adj) having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities.

“It is an attitude which your friends refer to as confidence and your enemies deem arrogance.”

This is a line from a novel I wrote some years ago.

There is a certain amount of self-worth necessary in order to conduct human business. But how do we know when we cross over into the boasting realm of “arrogant?”

Let me phrase it this way. I think you can call yourself confident unless:

1. You feel the need to tell someone who you are instead of just showing it.
2. You assume, upon telling them who you are, that a certain amount of respect should follow.
3. You are offended when you occasionally have to take the lower seat because it’s the only one available.
4. You bruise easily and heal slowly.

I feel if you’re able to avoid these four pitfalls, you can live a life of confidence without becoming arrogant. But even though it seems like arrogant people temporarily gain the day … at the end the destruction is much more violent and final.

Thank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix