A man who desires to be great makes great men his template/benchmark. This is because when he fails, he will easily know he hasn't lived up to his expectations, then he will strive harder.
A man without such desires makes failures his template/benchmark. This is because whenever he fails, he only needs to see if he is better than his benchmark. As long as he is better, he hasn't failed.
Next time someone ask to be compared with the best of his kind, its not pride, but ambition.