As a fire’s heat feeds its own upward surge, so, too, are the traits of pride and anger characterized by their self perpetuation.
The nature of other passions is that the more they are indulged, the less intense they become, until they diminish and fade away over time.
The experience of pride and anger, on the other hand, only increases its intensity: the more they are indulged, the more they grow.
This is reflected in the fact that in Hebrew, “to be proud” (mitga’eh) and “to be angered” (mitragez) are reflexive verbs (“to pride oneself”; “to anger oneself”); the anger or the pride rebounds to act upon the person.
A person becomes proud, and his pride acts upon him to make him prouder still; a person gets angry, and his anger acts upon him to make him angrier still.
These are actors that gain a life of their own, feeding on their own frenzy, fanning their own flames as a fire that generates the heat that intensifies its own conflagration.
—Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz