Quotes / Pride Before a Fall

Here's the kicker: back in the day, the Traditions had it all, and they lost it because of their own pride. The Celestial Chorus tried to commune with God, but it fostered a church that was deaf to the needs of parishoners. The Order of Hermes posited a powerful formulaic version of magic, but it was accessible only to a talented few. Verbena practice a form of Blood Magic that's downright frightening. Given their relative indifference to normal people, it was only natural that they'd lose out when the Technocracy got the backing of the whole press of humanity.

—Mage: The Ascension Core Rulebook (Revised Ed)

I just got shot in the face with a double-barreled shotgun loaded with irony.

— Ayla Goodkind, Whateley Universe

Housemind rose on a pillar of arcane fire, outran the very sound of that fire erupting below it, punched through the highest clouds and into a darkening sky, and it was there that the self-absorption of the truly great caught it like an invisible fist and pulled it back down.

—The Fall And Rise Of The House Of The Wizard Malkuril, by Scott Lynch

Anakin Skywalker: My powers have doubled since we last met, Count.
Count Dooku: Good! Twice the pride, double the fall.

—Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

With all the best of intentions, I had annihilated one species and reduced another.

I lost to Inidar, lost to Wormer, lost to Aguella. I had lost in a different way to Menno: by resisting his call for adaptation I had led the last of my people into Father's snare. And I had lost to Father, in the end, by becoming Father myself. What was I, after all, with all Father's victims contained within me? I was but a high-tech version of Father.

And now I had fallen victim to arrogance. I'd begun to believe in my own moral superiority. My own invincibility.

—Toomin AKA the Ellimist, Animorphs - The Ellimist Chronicles

Do not be so swift to judge, Princess. Arrogance creates the pitfalls that lead to defeat, even for the mighty. This much I’ve learned from personal experience.

— Platinum, Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls

Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.

Be wary— triumphant pride precipitates a dizzying fall.

Ignorance of your enemy and of yourself will invariably lead to defeat.

—The Ancestor, Darkest Dungeon

Reverse Flash: To me, you're just a relic.
Gorilla Grodd: I am this world's future.
Reverse Flash: Pride comes before a fall.

—Injustice 2

The Undertaker: Pride comes before destruction.
Kane: And arrogance comes before a fall.

—October 22, 2018 edition of WWE Raw

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