Negative Aspects of Pride
Whenever an individual becomes conceited in his wisdom and knowledge, it shows that he is self-centered. This individual, with happiness and an air of smug self-satisfaction, will not seek additional knowledge and information any longer. This pride will ultimately deprive this person of obtaining further knowledge.
The path towards ignorance begins with the content and satisfaction of prior knowledge. One should remember this notion carefully. One may imagine that what he knows (be it material science or spiritual) is sufficient for him and does not need any additional knowledge. This notion is like someone who closes the doors before himself while saying, “these four walls are enough for me, and I need not anymore.” Such people are in the wrong because the doors to knowledge are not closed; they are always open. One should not assume that what he knows is definitive and cannot be changed and revised. So much of the scientific information that was assumed to be indisputable was developed later through novel discoveries. Was it not until four centuries ago that people assumed the Earth was stationary and that the Sun rotated around it? How has everything changed, so no one believes in these words anymore, and all accept this new reality? How about the discoveries in astronomy and natural sciences that reached their current status thanks to satellites and modern equipment? There is no knowledge in the universe that is exempt from this.