Vanity v/s Pride

Oft repeated topic I guess but one that still hasn't lost it's importance or necessity as there is still widespread ignorance on the matter. We acknowledge that vanity and pride are difficult to distinguish. When you see a person it is very easy to see his pride as vanity - the simple reason is we as a species are a sceptical bunch. We at times see the most pessimistic possibility and believe it to be a fact. This is well known to anyone who has read Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'. In the book the female protagonist sees the pride of the male protagonist in his conduct as conceit and vanity. It is through luck that she sees the true character and they end up together. Alas such is not the case mostly in  real life, we continue to make negative impressions of our colleagues, classmates, neighbours or whomever we happen to see in that pessimistic light.
What then is the answer to this sad happening - as usual there is no panacea, there is no simple way to discern whether the person we see as vain/conceited is so or not. All we can do it to have a more open mind, to take chances and to give chances to people around us. Open up to them a little to know more so as to make a better guess and in case we still are unsure, perhaps have a neutral opinion on such people.