Character and Hubris

Some words are just so fitting. They sound like what they are describing, and to me hubris is just one of those words. One might not know exactly what hubris is, but when you hear it, you can just tell by sound and context, it is not a positive thing.  Then there are other words that can mean very different things based on their context. Character is that classic example – “having character” is a good thing, but “being a character” might not be as positive. It is no wonder English is such a challenging language.

And yet those two words seem to capture the saga of Ohio State’s former football coach Jim Tressel. For years he was held out as “a man of character”, but in the end he was undone by hubris. It is an incredibly interesting and incredibly sad tale. Someday the entire truth might come out, but in the final analysis, much as it was with Icarus, coach Tressel’s fall from grace was as much about hubris as it was anything.

What has lingered with me is that timeless quote on character:


Martin Luther King Jr.

It is such a fine line between confidence and arrogance, conviction and obstinacy, or just a little more and a bit too much.     Though that line might be fine in width, the depth of the difference is an absolute chasm.  And it is into that chasm so many have fallen – leaders and followers alike, but almost all were on a journey of best intentions when they slipped.  All too often character in one of its forms is a prelude to hubris.  Interesting how that works…sometimes.


Filed under Coaching, Current affairs, Sports

2 responses to “Character and Hubris

  1. Ed

    Perhaps the difference between success and failure or confidence and hubris is the amount of control that one can bring to bear on oneself. You are right, there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance, but the two are different based on the amount of control that we exercise on our characters.

  2. Jimbo

    “It is made worse by mass culture which feeds our most destructive illusions, fostering the belief that if we’re only justified (and who isn’t?), if we only calculate things correctly, if we only do the right thing (and who doesn’t?), then the future must yield the desired results. There must always be a way. And so hubris turns to false certainties, everyone expects to be a winner, and each morning is a mind-blowing surprise.”
    Stephen Vizinczey

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