Glory

"Quitting my day job and starting my life as a writer was a tremendous risk. 

It was a 

Fool's Leap. 

A Shot in The Dark. 

But, anything of any value in our lives, whether that be a career, a work of art, a relationship, will always start with such a leap. 

And in order to be able to make it, you have to put aside the 

Fear of Failing 

and the 

DESIRE of SUCCEEDING. 

You have to do these things completely purely, Without Fear 

Without Desire. 

Because things that we do without Lust of Result are the purest actions that we shall ever take."

- Alan Moore

The Catholic doctrine on this subject is defined by the Council of Florence (see Denzinger, 588). (See CREATION; GOOD.)

Human glory

To enjoy glory before Men is to be known and honoured on account of one's character, qualities, possessions, position, or achievements, real or imaginary. 

The moral question arises, is the desire and pursuit of this glory lawful? The doctrine on the subject is succinctly stated by St. Thomas (II-II, Q. cxxxii). 

Posing the question whether the desire of glory is sinful, he proceeds to answer it in the following sense: Glory imports the manifestation of something which is estimated honourable, whether it be a spiritual or a corporal good. Glory does not necessarily require that a large number of persons shall acknowledge the excellence; the esteem of a few, or even of oneself, may suffice, as, for example, when one judges some good of his own to be worthy of praise. That any person esteem his own good or excellence to be worthy of praise is not in itself sinful; nor, in like manner, is it sinful that we should desire to see our good works approved of men. "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works" (Matthew 5:16). Hence the desire of glory is not essentially vicious.

But a vain, or perverse desire for renown, which is called vainglory, is Wrong; desire of glory becomes perverse,

• when one seeks renown because of something not really worthy; 
• when one seeks the esteem of those whose judgment is undiscriminating; 
• when one desires glory before men without subordinating it to righteousness.

Vainglory may become a deadly sin, if one seek the esteem of Men for something that is incompatible with the reverence due to God; 

or when the thing for which one desires to be esteemed is preferred in one's affections before God; 

or again, when the judgment of Men is sought in preference to the judgment of God, as was the case with the Pharisees, who "loved the glory of men more than the glory of God" (John 12:43). 

The term "vainglory" denotes not alone the sinful act, but also the vicious habit or tendency engendered by a repetition of such acts. 

This habit is ranked among the capital sins, or, more properly vices, because it is prolific of other sins, viz., 

• disobedience, 
• boastfulness, 
• hypocrisy, 
• contentiousness, 
• discord, and 
• a presumptuous love of pernicious novelties in moral and religious doctrine.