@Alther 1 September 2025 more from that month

Pride in the Fraud for His Deception Proud, indeed, is the kind of pride with which disgrace itself gets masked. Such is that kind of fraud who believes himself sharp because he has fooled others. That pride, however, is no more than a mirage, hallucination aimed at himself. Animals steal out of hunger; they predate from instinct. There is no pride here; only the primal urge to exist; but the human who cheats fully cognizant and takes pride in it has deprived himself of human dignity. He brings reason to a level far worse than instinct because he knows it is wrong but still chooses. Lies and trickery are never solid. Their cracks are always waiting, like a brittle wall slowly peeled away by rain and wind. And when it collapses, the fraud will stand among the ruins of his own foolishness. To live in such hollow pride is the greatest loss: the loss of one’s humanity. In the end, the fraud who boasts is proof that not all humans choose the path of dignity. Some choose the path of folly, becoming like beasts—noisy, greedy, and stripped of the light of reason.