Self-righteousness - whether concluding quietly to oneself or asserting vociferously to others that one is right - is the easier of humanity's two inexhaustible sources of energy.
The other one, the much more powerful one, is love.
Self-righteousness is instinctual, requires neither effort nor growth, and is at least initially comforting, especially when we go with a crowd. The high costs of self-righteousness - loneliness, stress, atrophy of love of others and curiosity about them and their views - often appear after the habit of self-righteousness has taken hold so firmly that we do not see their origin.
Love is instinctual, too, but is much harder work because its focus is on growth and service, not on feeling emotionally or physically comfortable. Love includes others. Love includes curiosity about and care of others, as well as self-care. Love includes acceptance of others, and modesty, because true acceptance of another means accepting that we might have something to give away, not protect, and that we might have something - maybe a lot - to learn from others. Love includes curiosity about how we and others might grow, not how we might protect what we have, including our self-perception. Love, too, can become a habit, and easier each day, once its value - particularly its value compared to self-righteousness - becomes clear.
Love is the powerful discipline.
