Ingratitude is the daughter of pride.

The saying presents thanklessness as something pride can produce. A person who is overly self-important may treat help, kindness, or generosity as beneath acknowledgment and fail to express due appreciation.

It also warns that gratitude involves recognizing one's dependence on others. By calling ingratitude pride's “daughter,” it stresses a close moral relationship, while allowing that a failure to show thanks can have causes other than pride.

Use this as a moral observation when someone dismisses assistance or refuses to thank those who helped them. It suits reflective discussion of character and relationships, rather than a neutral description of a single lapse in manners; avoid treating it as a certain diagnosis of motive.