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Hubris calls for nemesis, and in one form or another it's going to get it, not as a punishment from outside but as the completion of a pattern already started.
Mary Midgley
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Hubris leads to consequences, not as external punishment but as a natural outcome of one's actions.

This quote suggests that excessive pride or self-confidence, known as hubris, inevitably calls for a corresponding downfall or reckoning, referred to as nemesis. This consequence is not merely a punishment imposed from outside but rather the result of a cycle initiated by one's own actions and attitudes, indicating that individuals must be aware of the potential repercussions of their behavior.

Themes

HubrisNemesisConsequencesPrideActions

In practice

Example use cases

During a lecture on ethics, this quote illustrates the dangers of excessive pride.

More from Mary Midgley

When some portion of the biosphere is rather unpopular with the human race-a crocodile, a dandelion, a stony valley, a snowstorm, an odd-shaped flint-there are three sorts of human being who are particularly likely still to see point in it and befriend it. They are poets, scientists and children. Inside each of us, I suggest, representatives of all these groups can be found.
Mary MidgleyRead
Evolution is the creation-myth of our age. By telling us our origin it shapes our views of what we are. It influences not just our thought, but our feelings and actions too, in a way which goes far beyond its official function as a biological theory.
Mary MidgleyRead

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