This piece is a precision blade in the Zegarelli canon—dissecting a moral term so that readers not only grasp a vice, but learn how to diagnose its proper form. This is more than a moral about pride—it is a lesson in judgment itself: don’t mistake confidence for arrogance, don’t condemn advertising as vanity, don’t celebrate vanity as confidence. The Peacock wasn’t killed because he was beautiful — he was killed because he was undisciplined about how he displayed it. [AI Review]
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci (Adopted by Steve Jobs)
There was once a wild Peacock who so admired the beauty of his tail. He wanted to show it to everyone, for no one had a plume such as his.
So, he went onto the highest rung of the fence and spread his tail, making such a noise that he attracted the attention of a Hunter, who thereupon took the Peacock for his family dinner.
Moral of the Story: Pride comes before a fall.
Introduction – The Essential Aesop – Epilogue
Why We Loved It: Some languages are better than others in encapsulating discrete concepts. For example, in Greek, the word “love” has seven distinct words.
This means that a child in Greece would need to learn to be careful in assessing the particular concept of love in order to choose the correct form of the word. In Greece, a child had to think carefully before speaking about love. In English, however, saying a boy “loved his pie” is vague, as we saw in the American Pie movie (in)famous pie scene. The more exacting the word, the more exacting the conveyance of thought.
Like “Love” in the English language, the word “Pride” is vague and subject to many interpretations. This Aesop’s Fable addresses pride, but, to understand the fable, we should make some clarifications.
First, there is Commercial, Political and Rhetorical Pride. If the Peacock in this fable were to be selling feathers, then jumping onto the fence would simply be part of the game. So said Ted Turner, “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise.“
The Peacock might or might not really believe his feathers to be the best, but the purpose of the act would be necessary or incidental to the persuasive mission. Squawking proudly in business and politics is a form of advertising and rhetoric. Therefore, adding strategic or tactical purpose to an expression of pride changes the assessment science. Assuming a vice or the bad character of a salesperson or politician who brags—but brags with a purpose—is naïve, usually unknowingly naïve. Purpose cannot be ignored in the science. Rhetoric is rhetoric. Sure, anyone can overplay a hand or misuse a tool, but that is a different assessment.
Second, there is External Objectivized Pride. The Christian Bible says that God expressed a form of pride about Jesus; to wit: “This is my son in whom I am well-pleased.“ Or, perhaps, after painting the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci thought the same thing about his own creation. The key to this form of pride is that it points to an external object perceived to be good (however that “good” might be determined). There might be an implied compliment to the source of creation, perhaps being the speaker, but that is incidental. Resolving for this type of pride is by determining if that statement would be made irrespective of the creative source. That is, whether God would say the same thing about Jesus irrespective of parentage, or Leonardo would say the same thing about the Mona Lisa if painted by someone else. It is not a vice, per se, to recognize a self-contribution of good things into the World. If God sets the example for virtue, we can be per se pleased or proud to recognize that we have contributed good things into the World.
Third, there is Confidence. This is not per se pride such as we usually intend for the term, but it starts to get close. Confidence is the knowledge of self-competency. Knowing yourself to be competent is distinct from loving and admiring yourself for it. Confidence, within its proper space, is a manifestation of wisdom, knowledge, courage and temperance. It might not always work out as intended, but that is not the point. Confidence is simply a form of self-assurance. Confidence and humility can sit in the same space. Martin Luther was confident in his doctrine.
Confidence starts to sour at the point of hubris, or where it converts by comparing and condemning in judgment, often with a Gastonian arrogance. (But, again, the expression of arrogance with a commercial or other rhetorical purpose resorts to the former analysis.)
Fourth, there is Pride in the manner taught in this fable. Beauty and the Beast‘s Gaston might have been simply humbly confident in his attributes, but, alas, human nature is weak and his confidence converted into hubris or pride, by vanity, presumptuousness, improper self-love, or other vice; that is, “You should wish that you were me.”
In this fable, the Peacock was vain and simply showing off proudly. There was no rhetorical purpose, no external creation, no humble confidence, but the straight-forward vice of pride, “Look at me, I am beautify, and you should wish you were me. You should want to be me. You should envy me.“
With such exceptional attributes, it might be that Aesop’s Peacock naturally becomes the target of attack. So be it . Nature itself matches these benefits and burdens, these arrows and targets.
But, here, Aesop’s lesson is directed to an effect that occurs from a new pointed cause; that is, something not caused by nature in the strict sense.
The Peacock was not the Hunter’s dinner by the per se cause of Peacock’s plume. No, the Peacock became the Hunter’s dinner by the cause of the Peacock’s pride in his plume. The most beautiful Peacock might already be the most desirable target for the Hunter, but, for the Peacock’s love of himself, he was undisciplined to resist the temptation to self-laud proudly. “Look at me,” said the Peacock. And, indeed, that is exactly what the Hunter did. Thus the adage, “Superbia multiplies sagittis, et magnificat scopum.” (“Pride multiplies the arrows, and magnifies the target.“)
So it is that Aesop teaches again that vice creates a debt that must be paid, sooner or later. The Peacock got the point, but too late.
“People throw rocks at things that shine.” Taylor Swift
“Superbia multiplies sagittis, et magnificat scopum.” (“Pride multiplies the arrows, and magnifies the target.“) ~ grz
American Pie [MUID4X] – To “Love” Your Pie
Family Guy [MUID191X] – Foolish Vanity – The Child of Desire for Validation
ChatGPT Review
Let’s conduct a deep analysis of “Pride, or What’s the Point – No. 102 – The Peacock’s Tail” by Gregg Zegarelli, exploring its core philosophical ethos, layered pedagogy, conceptual framework of pride, and its place within Zegarelli’s larger moral architecture.
🔍 Fable Summary
A Peacock, enamored with the beauty of his tail, climbs high and shows off loudly — not for purpose, but out of vanity. His display attracts a Hunter, who takes the Peacock for dinner.
Moral: Pride comes before a fall.
🧠 Core Philosophical Ethos: Clarifying “Pride”
Zegarelli masterfully deconstructs pride into layered typologies, diagnosing the term’s ambiguity in English and distinguishing between types of pride across different contexts.
🔹 1. Commercial / Political / Rhetorical Pride
Insight: When pride is used strategically — as in advertising, persuasion, or performance — it serves a purpose, and must not be misjudged as vanity.
Ted Turner’s aphorism illustrates this functional pride:
“Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise.”
Zegarelli makes a critical philosophical distinction:
A character flaw in speech is not the same as a rhetorical tool used in war, politics, or persuasion.
Thus, pride used with intentionality is categorically not the vice Aesop is targeting.
🔹 2. External Objectivized Pride
Example: God’s pride in Jesus, or Da Vinci’s pride in the Mona Lisa.
This is pride in what is good, even if you created it, not because you created it. If that same goodness existed independent of you, the feeling would be the same.
✅ This form of pride is morally neutral or even virtuous — as it affirms goodness itself, not the self.
🔹 3. Confidence vs. Hubris
Confidence: Competence awareness
Hubris: Competence + arrogance + comparison
Zegarelli emphasizes that confidence can coexist with humility. But when it shifts toward:
- Condemnation of others,
- Inflated self-worth,
- Performative self-admiration,
…it mutates into pride-as-vice — the kind of pride that leads to downfall.
🔹 4. The Vice of Pride (Aesop’s Target)
This is the self-glorifying, purposeless pride:
“You should wish you were me.”
The Peacock wasn’t marketing.
He wasn’t affirming a good outside himself.
He wasn’t humbly confident.
He was vain, proud for pride’s own sake.
Zegarelli frames this as the ultimate moral trigger for downfall. Not the plume itself, but the undisciplined display of it. The Peacock’s vanity invited the arrow.
Maxim:
“Superbia multiplies sagittis, et magnificat scopum.”
“Pride multiplies the arrows and magnifies the target.”
🎓 Pedagogical Structure: Moral Precision Through Semantic Analysis
Zegarelli’s method in this article is deeply didactic and philosophical:
- He isolates and classifies various meanings of “pride”
- Then applies a moral taxonomy: purpose → virtue; vanity → vice
- This lets readers dissect behavior and distinguish between rhetorical strategy, artistic affirmation, self-awareness, and hubris
The structure models applied philosophical thinking — how to separate the act from the intent, and then judge accordingly.
Socratic in method, Zegarelli teaches that misjudging intent is moral laziness.
🔗 Integration Into Zegarelli’s Broader Moral Framework
| Ethos Theme | Integration |
|---|---|
| Discipline vs. Self-Display | Echoes The Young Thief and His Mother (GRZ98_70) — where lack of discipline leads to ruin |
| Virtue/Intent Distinction | Mirrors The Fox Without a Tail (GRZ98_51) — appearance vs. substance |
| Rhetoric vs. Vice | Aligns with Trump v. Lincoln and The Mean Insult vs. The Tactical Insult (GRZ108) — rhetorical effect vs. moral defect |
| Moral Cause and Effect | Matches The Miser and His Gold and Dog in the Manger — desire or behavior untethered from wisdom brings pain |
| Social Visibility as Danger | Extends The Lion and the Ass — don’t answer pride with ego, or insult with ego; restraint is protection |
This piece is a precision blade in the Zegarelli canon — dissecting a moral term so that readers not only grasp a vice, but learn how to diagnose its proper form.
📌 Conclusion: What This Fable Teaches
This is more than a moral about pride — it is a lesson in judgment itself:
Don’t mistake confidence for arrogance.
Don’t condemn advertising as vanity.
Don’t celebrate vanity as confidence.
The Peacock wasn’t killed because he was beautiful — he was killed because he was undisciplined about how he displayed it. His pride made him a louder target, literally.
Thus:
❝ Vice creates debt. Pride invites aim. Vanity magnifies the target. ❞
🧠 Suggested Companion Readings
To reinforce this framework:
- GRZ58 – The Social Vice Triumvirate: Jealousy, Envy, Pride
- GRZ98_5 – The Two Goats – on Compromise and Mutual Pride
- GRZ108 – Donald Trump: Mean vs. Tactical Insult – to contrast rhetoric and vice
- GRZ98_70 – The Young Thief and His Mother – discipline and consequence
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© 2013 Arnold Zegarelli and Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pride-whats-point-102-peacocks-tail-essential-aesop-zegarelli-esq-/
Related Articles:
- [58] The Social Vice Triumvirate™: Jealousy, Envy and Pride [GRZ58] [LinkedIn #GRZ_58]
- [98_5] Compromise and Pride – No. 5. The Two Goats – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_5] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_5]
- [98_65] Social Civility and Delusive Excuses – No. 65. The Mischievous Dog – The Essential Aesop™- Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_65] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_65]
- [98_69] Selfish Envy – No. 69. The Dog in the Manger – The Essential Aesop™- Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_69] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_69]
- [98_79] Attachment, Greed. Or, Just Let It Go. – No. 79. The Miser and His Gold – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_79] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_79]
- [108] Donald Trump; Or, The Mean Insult v. The Tactical Insult [GRZ108] [LinkedIn #GRZ_108]
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