Noun
One of a sect or party among the Jews, noted for a strict and formal observance of rites and ceremonies and of the traditions of the elders, and whose pretensions to superior sanctity led them to separate themselves from the other Jews.
Source: Webster's dictionaryJoseph is the wearisomest and self-righteous Pharisee who ever ransacked the Bible to rake the promises to himself and fling the curses on his neighbor. Emily Brontë
A Pharisee is someone who is virtuous out of obedience to the Great Beast. Simone Weil
The Secret Revelation of John opens, again, in crisis. The disciple John, grieving Jesus' death, is walking toward the temple when he meets a Pharisee who mocks him for having been deceived by a false messiah. These taunts echoed John's own fear and doubt. Elaine Pagels
In a world where nobody understood the viewpoint of the victim, we would all be right to side with the victim. But we live in a world where almost nobody 'comes out' as a Pharisee or a hypocrite, and it seems to me that the way to moral learning proceeds in that direction. James Alison
“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up unto the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. Source: Internet
And the god to which he prays is, necessarily, a false god, an idol, since it allows itself to be positioned by the ego-driven needs of the Pharisee. Source: Internet