At times a person must exhibit arrogance before others, for the glory of the Creator, blessed is He, and His Torah. This is as our sages, of blessed memory, stated,¹⁶⁷ “A Torah Scholar must have one-eighth of one-eighth of arrogance.” However, while doing so, he must be extremely careful to contemplate his own lowliness. He should say in his heart, “In truth, I am very lowly, and the only reason I am now exhibiting pride is for the honor of HaShem, the Creator, blessed is He. However, I have no need of any pride for myself, since¹⁶⁸ ‘I am but a worm, and not a man.’ What need then do I have for pride?”

footnotes: ¹⁶⁷ Talmud Bavli, Sotah 5a ¹⁶⁸ Psalms 22:7