Musar zu Mischlej 21:24

Thus it happened to Pharaoh, who said (Ex. v. 2), "Who is the Lord?" and Goliath when he spake (I Sam. xvii. 10), "I defy the armies of Israel ; " and Sennacherib for his boastfulness in saying (II Kings xviii. 35), "Who are they among all the gods of the countries "; and Nebuchadnezzar in that he said (Dan. iii. 15), "Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" and others who follow them in the manner of their speech and whose end was complete abasement and utter obscurity. Whosoever is in this state is not secure from error and sin. Thus saith the sage (Prov. xxi. 24), "Proud and haughty scorner is his name." He mentions craftiness, because it is the source of boastfulness.

Whoever has the quality of arrogance ought to try and turn away from it for it is very base, and the damage caused by it is great and ever-present, and the worth that is in it is very little. Therefore, we must distance ourselves from it with all our might, for arrogance brings man to ruin and to humiliation, as it is said: "Pride goes before destruction" (Prov. 16:18), and it is also said: "A man's pride shall bring him low" (Prov. 29:23). And you already know what happened to Pharaoh when he said, "Who is the Lord, that I should hearken unto His voice to let Israel go?" (Exod. 5:2), and to Goliath, the Phillistine, who said: "I do taunt the armies of Israel this day" (I Sam. 17:10), and to Sennacherib, who said, "Who are they among all the gods of these countries that have delivered their country out of my hand ?" (Is. 36:20). And Nebeuchadnezzar, when he said, "And who is the god that shall deliver you from my hand?" (Dan. 3:15), and similar instances of those who spoke thusly, and their end was shame and disgrace. And whoever clings to this quality is not saved from sin and wrongdoing, as the Sage said, "A proud and haughty man, scorner is his name. Even he that dealeth in overbearing pride" (Prov. 21:24).

And this is the thing about the group of scoffers - scoffing is divided into four sections:
And the first section is the man of the tongue that spreads the infamy of people, like the matter that is stated (Psalms 50:20), “You are busy maligning your brother, defaming the son of your mother.” And he is called a scoffer, as it is stated (Proverbs 21:24), “The proud, insolent man, scoffer is his name, acts in a frenzy of insolence.” Its explanation is that] two bad traits - which are insolence and pride - gathered and joined in the scoffing man. For without having a benefit from the thing, he causes great damage to his fellows, whose reputations he sullies in the eyes of people. And this is the goal of the scoffer, more than the thief or the extortionist - who does [it] to increase his money. And he is also arrogant - for when one who is lowly and submissive recognizes his own deficiencies and blemishes, he will not scoff at people. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Taanit 8a), “In the future, all the animals will gather together by the snake and say to him, ‘A lion mauls [its prey] and eats; a wolf tears [it] and eats; [but] you, what pleasure do you have [when you bite a person]?’ He will say to them, ‘If the snake bites because no spell was uttered, no advantage is gained by the master of the tongue!’ (Ecclesiastes 10:11).” And this section is also from the sections of the group of the slanderers.