Holier than Thou

I like the phrase "holier than thou," especially in its common use as an accusation. It reminds us that it's not good to try to be holy. It says you should assess the holiness of the person you're with, and strive to be less holy, maybe considerably so. Maybe this is why bad things happen to good people. "Well, he was like reeaall holy, so I took his car and slept with his wife." Maybe there's a corollary with the saying, "If you see the Buddha by the side of the road, kill him." That seems, on the surface, less holy. So if you see Jesus, mug him. You won't get much, but you won't be accused of being holier than anybody. The problem is that if you're trying to politely be less holy than the person you're with, and he's trying to be less holy than you, there's a downward escalation. This is evident in the conflict between the Shias and the Sunnis, both groups having started out pretty holy, but trying to be less holy than 'thou'. It's an admirable effort. You can also see such manners at work in professional wrestling and Republican caucuses. Ron Paul said something pretty sensible at a recent debate - almost holy, I think was the problem - but Giuliani interrupted with a "demand that he take that back, immediately".
Also, according to this phrase, when thou really goes to far and tries to be too spiritual, thou will start saying thou a lot. Watch out for that.