Pride goes before a fall

This has been a popular proverb since the early 16th century. It is sometimes in the form of pride will have a fall or sometimes shortened to pride before a fall and means that a humbling experience or failure often awaits those who are boastful of their success. The origin is from the Bible, Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” A similar concept is found in the work of Sophocles (495-405 BC) in Oedipus Rex, “The tyrant is a child of Pride who drinks from his great sickening cup, recklessness and vanity, until from his high crest headlong he plummets to the dust.”