Self-Esteem in Action...

Pride is an actioning of self-esteem, and whatever feeling one gets is a by-product of a person abiding by that virtue... a proud person sets high standards for the self, and as such conscientiously strives to meet them - in this case, the other virtues, especially the prime one of rationality, of acting by principled thought, of being dedicated to not only doing the best, but of striving to make that best ever better, a continual spiral upward to greater flourishing as a human... a recognition that a person is that person's own highest value, that of any achievements open, the one that makes all others possible is the creation of one's own character - which in turn is the product of the premises held, the making in effect of 'the self-made soul'.... 

Knowing one's own value is a necessity in order to maintain one's own life... because a person is a being whose life consists of making choices of one's actions, it is an imperative that a fundamentally positive view of of the self is there to be accepted in order to be able to take the kinds of actions that would effectively advance the flourishing and well-being of that one's life... in other words, it is that a person is a being of 'self-made soul', that creates the need of making that soul WELL - not haphazardly or piecemeal, but integratively to that well-being... after all, every action that a person takes, beyond whatever effects it may or may not have in the external world, it adds to that person's self image - there is knowing the consequences to having possibly taken another choice, and whether or not the choosing was rational or not... there is also the learning over the course of time that that person's life depends on those actions taken, that there is a responsibility involved in those choices, with potentially enormous impact on successes and failures regarding achieving happiness or frustration... thus developing the sense that one can rely on oneself to make good choices is a necessity to advancing the flourishing - such knowledge is the base on which self-esteem arises... thus this knowing, this pride, is necessary to acquiring this extremely valuable value of self-esteem...