Civilisational pride should remind us of our capacity to absorb difference, not to weaponise it. Civilisational self-assertion must not become an excuse to bypass the hard labour of governance. It can choose to define civilisational pride as exclusionary, or it can choose to define it as inclusive. Imagine a ruling ethos that channels civilisational self-assertion into building institutions that reflect our pluralism. Civilisational pride should not allow grievance to diminish greatness.