Humility Quotes

We have collected and put the best Humility Quotes. Enjoy reading these insights and feel free to share this page on your social media to inspire others.

Humility is the defining characteristic of unpretentious or humble people; those who do not behave as if they were more important than others. The terms humility and modesty are often contrasted in various ways, but they are also often treated as interchangeable synonyms.

Humility is the quality of being humble. Dictionary definitions accentuate humility as a low self-regard and sense of unworthiness. In a religious context humility can mean a recognition of self in relation to a deity (i.e. God) or deities, and self-debasement with subsequent submission to said deity as a member of that religion. Outside of a religious context, humility is defined as being “unselved”, a liberation from consciousness of self, a form of temperance that is neither having pride (or haughtiness) nor indulging in self-deprecation.

See also: What Is Humility?Humility As A Virtue, and Tawadu (Humility)

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Humility Quotes

Humility Quotes

Humble and modest people are highly regarded by the created and the Creator. Haughty and self-con­ceited people, who belittle others and are arro­gant, are always disliked by the created and punished by the Creator. – M. Fethullah Gulen

Self-conceit shows a lack of sensibility and maturity. Those who are more reflective and spiritually mature have the sense to attribute whatever gifts they may have to the Creator, the Most High, and devote themselves to Him with humble gratitude. – M. Fethullah Gulen

Humility makes people pleased with God’s judgments, and steadfast in the face of reproofs and insults from others. Those who know their place and do not put on airs have truly secured and defended themselves against other people’s contempt. – M. Fethullah Gulen

Humility is a sign of virtue and maturity, while haughtiness and self-conceit indicate an imperfect, lowly spirit. The most perfect human beings are those who are at ease and intimate in the company of others. By contrast, those who are too proud to join in with others and form warm friendships with them are the most imperfect human beings and only earn notoriety. – M. Fethullah Gulen

Those who do not seek or claim great prestige in their community sooner or later attain high ranks and are honored. Those who have a superiority complex are repudiated by their community and eventually become strangers in it. – M. Fethullah Gulen

Humility is a sign of one’s having become truly human. One sign of humility is that one does not change after obtaining high status or wealth, learning or fame, or whatever is publicly esteemed. If any of these circumstances causes the per­son to alter his or her ideas, attitudes, and behavior, he or she cannot be regarded as having attained true humanity or true humility. – M. Fethullah Gulen

Humility is like a key to all other virtues. One who is humble may have all other virtues, whereas one who lacks humility usually is deprived of other virtues as well. After his fault, Prophet Adam, upon him be peace, nevertheless recovered, through humility, all of his former connections to the worlds beyond. By contrast, Satan, undergoing the same test as Adam, became the irrecoverable victim of his self-conceit and haughtiness. – M. Fethullah Gulen

Humble people attain high (spiritual) ranks in the institutions of spiritual training. They benefit fully from a good education, whether religious or scientific, and prove useful to their communities. Those whose vainglory and pride do not allow them to benefit from the discipline of these institutions, or to be taught by others, have lost their way. – M. Fethullah Gulen

Since grandeur and pride are among the exclusive attributes of the Divine Being, those who act arrogantly and transgress the limits of modesty are seized and punished by Him. Those who know their true station and remain suitably humble and modest are honored with His Presence. – M. Fethullah Gulen

Humility Quotes

Humility Quotes

Humility is truth. – Desiderius Erasmus

Humility is attentive patience. – Simone Weil

Humility is the surest sign of strength. – Thomas Merton

Humility is royalty without a crown. – Spencer W. Kimball

Humility is a necessary veil to all other graces. – William Gurnall

Humility is the proper estimate of oneself. – Charles Spurgeon

Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues. – Confucius

Humility is a virtue, and it is a virtue innate in guests. – Max Beerbohm

Humility is the most beautiful virtue that we can develop. – Joyce Meyer

Humility is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying. – Saint Vincent de Paul

Humility is absolutely necessary for true learning. – Robert T. Kiyosaki

Humility is not a trait I often associate with America. – Mira Nair

Humility is the foundation for every good attitude. – Joyce Meyer

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. – C. S. Lewis

Humility is to make a right estimate of oneself. – Charles H. Spurgeon

[Humility is:] Greatness in plain clothes. – Spencer W. Kimball

Humility is the gateway into the grace and the favor of God. – Harold Warner

Humility is the ability to give up your pride and still retain your dignity. – Vanna Bonta

Humility is nothing else but a right judgment of ourselves – William Law

Humility is preserved when I give credit where credit is due – to God. – Mother Angelica

Humility is no substitute for a good personality. – Fran Lebowitz

Humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease. – Jim Rohn

Humility is really important because it keeps you fresh and new. – Steven Tyler

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. – Rick Warren

Humility is the essence of love and intelligence; it is not an achievement. – Jiddu Krishnamurti

Humility is the doorway to truth and clarity of objectives… it’s the doorway to learning. – Wynton Marsalis

Humility is the greatest quality that a man can have, and arrogance is undoubtedly the worst. – Maulana W. Khan

Humility is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes of life. – George Arliss

Humility is at the equilibrium of ego. When we’re on center, we manage our ego rather than it managing us. – Steve Smith

Humility is not cowardice. Meekness is not weakness. Humility and meekness are indeed spiritual powers. – Swami Sivananda

Humility is the embarrassment you feel when you tell people how wonderful you are. – Laurence J Peter

Humility is not a character trait to develop, it’s the natural by-product of being with Jesus. – Louie Giglio

Humility is the mother of giants. One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak. – G. K. Chesterton

Humility is a grace that shines in a high condition but cannot, equally, in a low one because a person in the latter is already, perhaps, too much humbled. – Samuel Richardson

Humility is not something that comes naturally. But it is a cardinal virtue that should be pursued more than any other. – Joyce Meyer

Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance. – Augustine of Hippo

Humility is the key to moral excellence. It is the noblest quality a person can possess. […] It is the mother of all possibilities. – Venerable Master Hsin Yun

Humility is a great quality of leadership which derives respect and not just fear or hatred. – Yousef Munayyer

Humility is recognition of personal insufficiency and the willingness to learn. To learn is to die voluntarily and be born again, in great ways and small. – Jordan Peterson

Humility is the most difficult of all virtues to achieve; nothing dies harder than the desire to think well of oneself. – T.S. Eliot

Humility is clearer-eyed than ego – and that’s important because humility always works harder than ego. – Ryan Holiday

Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. – Andrew Murray

Humility is throwing oneself away in complete concentration on something or someone else. – Madeleine L’Engle

Humility is not one virtue among others, but an attitude by which we stand on the ground alongside things. From this position we can be reconciled with all things and begin a truly cosmic democracy. – Leonardo Boff

Humility is the key to growth. If you think you know it all you’re wrong and will be forever stuck where you are. Confidence, not arrogance, is what we should all be after. – Brad Stulberg

Humility is a call to see our commonness, our humanity, indeed, a clarion call to give up the selfishness at the root of all sin. Humility, understood in terms we have been considering, may well be the ‘cure’ for the alienation of our age. – Bonnie Thurston

Humility is the first step towards learning. You can’t learn until you are humble enough to realize there is something for you to learn. – Robert T. Kiyosaki

Humility is not my forte, and whenever I dwell for any length of time on my own shortcomings, they gradually begin to seem mild, harmless, rather engaging little things, not at all like the staring defects in other people’s characters. – Margaret Halsey

Humility is the key to wonder. As humility grows, wonder deepens. You will see yourself as a temporary expression of God’s infinite and timeless unfolding. Aware of your impermanence, you become brother and sister to all life. You realize the common fate of all beings and find in that realization a compassion that embraces all beings. – Rami Shapiro

Humility is becoming a lost art, but it’s not difficult to practice. It means that you realize that others have been involved in your success. – Harvey Mackay

Humility is the true key to success. Successful people lose their way at times. They often embrace and overindulge from the fruits of success. Humility halts this arrogance and self-indulging trap. Humble people share the credit and wealth, remaining focused and hungry to continue the journey of success. – Rick Pitino

True humility is contentment. – Henri Frederic Amiel

True humility is when you can surprise yourself more than others; the rest is either shyness or good marketing. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb

True humility is staying teachable, regardless of how much you already know. – Unknown

True humility is not an abject, groveling, self-despising spirit; it is but a right estimate of ourselves as God sees us. – Tryon Edwards

True humility is being able to accept criticisms as graciously as we accept compliments. – Sabrina Newby

True humility is intelligent self respect which keeps us from thinking too highly or too meanly of ourselves. It makes us modest by reminding us how far we have come short of what we can be. – Ralph W. Sockman

True humility does not know that it is humble. If it did, it would be proud from the contemplation of so fine a virtue. – Martin Luther

Blushing is the color of virtue. – Diogenes

It takes a big person to do something small. – Joel Osteen

For me, someone who brags is a red flag. Maxime Lagacé

Never curse a fall. The ground is where humility lives. – Yasmin Mogahed

Without humility there can be no humanity. – John Buchan

Learn to laugh at yourselves as one must laugh! – Friedrich Nietzsche

The soul is healed by being with children. – Fyodor Dostoevsky

The greatest patience is humility. – Atiśa Dīpa kara Śrījñāna

Arrogance repels. Humility inspires. – Robin Sharma

Humility wins. Love conquers. – Robin Sharma

Greatness loves gratitude. – Robin Sharma

Modesty is a lubricant for unpleasant intrusions. – Norman Mailer

He who tries to shine dims his own light. – Lao Tzu

If I only had a little humility, I’d be perfect. – Ted Turner

Nobody stands taller than those willing to stand corrected. – William Safire

There is beauty and humility in imperfection. – Guillermo del Toro

A great man is always willing to be little. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Humility will open more doors than arrogance ever will. – Zig Ziglar

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing. – Socrates

Mastery begins with humility. – Robin Sharma

Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world. – Miyamoto Musashi

Every person that you meet knows something you don’t; learn from them. – H. Jackson Brown Jr

We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility. – Rabindranath Tagore

The biggest challenge after success is shutting up about it. – Criss Jami

Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up. – Jesse Jackson

To lead the people, walk behind them. – Lao Tzu

The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility. – T.S. Eliot

It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. – Augustine of Hippo

Perfection is impossible without humility. Why should I strive for perfection, if I am already good enough? – Leo Tolstoy

If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. – Mother Teresa

Sometimes you have to lose something to gain something better. A door has to shut before a new door can open. – Joel Osteen

Don’t seek praise. Let your effort speak for itself. – Unknown

I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance. – Diogenes

Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame. – Alexander Pope

I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university. – Albert Einstein

The young wants massive confidence. The wise avoids it. Maxime Lagacé

There’s no need to show off when you know who you are. Maxime Lagacé

Two things define you. Your patience when you have nothing, and your attitude when you have everything. – Imam Ali

Grateful yet ambitious. Wordly yet wise. Strong yet loving. – Robin Sharma

Pride is the problem, humility is the answer. – Joyce Meyer

We are all stumblers, and the beauty and meaning of life are in the stumbling. – David Brooks

I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men. – Lao Tzu

Perhaps wisdom…is realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go. – Anthony Bourdain

The best of people is the one who humbles himself the more his rank increases. – Prophet Muhammad

In reality, humility means nothing other than complete honesty about yourself. – William Countryman

People search for certainty. But there is no certainty. – Richard P. Feynman

When I look at a person, I see a person – not a rank, not a class, not a title. – Criss Jami

To share your weakness is to make yourself vulnerable; to make yourself vulnerable is to show your strength. – Criss Jami

Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground. – Theodore Roosevelt

Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong. – Albert Einstein

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose. – Bill Gates

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. – Ernest Hemingway

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. – Harry S. Truman

Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it. – Colin Powell

It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err. – Mahatma Gandhi

These are the few ways we can practice humility: To speak as little as possible of one’s self. To mind one’s own business. Not to want to manage other people’s affairs. To avoid curiosity. To accept contradictions and correction cheerfully. To pass over the mistakes of others. To accept insults and injuries. To accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked. To be kind and gentle even under provocation. Never to stand on one’s dignity. To choose always the hardest. – Mother Teresa

What are the things that you can’t see that are important? I would say justice, truth, humility, service, compassion, love. You can’t see any of those, but they’re the guiding lights of a life. – Jimmy Carter

Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved? – Carl Sagan

Do you wish people to think well of you? Don’t speak well of yourself. – Blaise Pascal

Nobody has ever expected me to be president. In my poor, lean lank face nobody has ever seen that any cabbages were sprouting. – Abraham Lincoln

I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day. – Abraham Lincoln

If you’re not humble, life will visit humbleness upon you. – Mike Tyson

I truly believe we are all equal as human beings. – Conor McGregor

I hear my friends and my mom tell me I’m special, but honestly, I still don’t get it. – LeBron James

Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. – Martin Luther King Jr

Humility, like the darkness, reveals the heavenly lights. – Henry David Thoreau

The world tells us to seek success, power and money; God tells us to seek humility, service and love. – Pope Francis

There is a universal respect and even admiration for those who are humble and simple by nature, and who have absolute confidence in all human beings irrespective of their social status. – Nelson Mandela

Accept everything which happens, even if it seem disagreeable, because it leads to this, the health of the universe. – Marcus Aurelius

A true genius admits that he/she knows nothing. – Albert Einstein

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. – Booker T. Washington

Be humble, hungry and the hardest worker in the room. – Dwayne Johnson (The Rock)

Think good thoughts. Speak good words. Take good actions. – Rhonda Byrne

Amateurs put blinders and miss opportunities. Professionals stay humble and learn the lessons. Maxime Lagacé

Stand in utter humility at the sight of your true potential for mastery. – Robin Sharma

In humility is the greatest freedom. As long as you have to defend the imaginary self that you think is important, you lose your peace of heart. – Thomas Merton

The greatest friend of truth is time, her greatest enemy is prejudice, and her constant companion is humility. – Charles Caleb Colton

I believe the first test of a truly great man is in his humility. – John Ruskin

The struggles we endure today will be the ‘good old days’ we laugh about tomorrow. – Aaron Lauritsen

Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation. – Augustine of Hippo

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility. – Augustine of Hippo

Humility, gentleness, and helpfulness go so much further and open doors you cannot imagine. – Ann Tran

Talent means nothing, while experience, acquired in humility and with hard work, means everything. – Patrick Süskind

I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. – Helen Keller

It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility. – Rachel Carson

Never, ‘for the sake of peace and quiet,’ deny your own experience or convictions. – Dag Hammarskjold

Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you. – Andrew Murray

Flattery is all right so long as you don’t inhale. – Adlai Stevenson

Don’t talk about yourself; it will be done when you leave. – Wilson Mizner

Even when it speaks, humility listens. – Thomas Merton

You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop. – Rumi

Be silent and listen: have you recognized your madness and do you admit it? – Carl Jung

In humility and honesty you’ll find pain, envy and fear but you’ll also find strength, beauty and truth. – Maxime Lagacé

Something beautiful can happen to people when their world falls apart: humility, nobility and wisdom emerge just when our knees hit the floor. – Marianne Williamson

Those who are believed to be most abject and humble are usually the most ambitious and envious. – Baruch Spinoza

There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous. – Blaise Pascal

All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power. – Lao Tzu

Confidence is important but ego is something false. Humility is the way to build confidence. – Frank Shamrock

Realize that you are simultaneously everything and nothing – and decide what you want to be. – Ray Dalio

Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it. – Ernest Holmes

You must be humble, but never “modest”. – Paulo Coelho

The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins. – Søren Kierkegaard

The truth is a trap: you cannot get it without it getting you; you cannot get the truth by capturing it, only by its capturing you. – Søren Kierkegaard

The measure of who we are is how we react to something that does not go our way. – Gregg Popovich

You are going to die. – Shay Carl

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. – Steve Jobs

Often the problem turns out to be you. – Shane Parrish

Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying. – Arthur C. Clarke

The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world. – Dr. Paul Farmer

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children. – Kahlil Gibran

Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. – And their grandchildren are once more slaves. – D. H. Lawrence

I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. – Jiddu Krishnamurti

It is the desire for success that prevents humility; and without humility how can there be understanding? – Jiddu Krishnamurti

I’ve done what I could, let those who can do better. – Alexander Solzhenitsyn

The point is urgency. Appreciation. Humility. The present moment. – Ryan Holiday

Reminding ourselves each day that we will die, helps us treat our time as a gift. – Ryan Holiday

The soft overcomes the hard. The slow overcomes the fast. – Lao Tzu

The greatest wisdom consists in knowing one’s own follies. – Madeleine De Souvre Sable

The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes. – Winston Churchill

To live free is to live in humility: you don’t pretend, you don’t show off. You are simply you. Maxime Lagacé

Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. – John Wooden

People speak well of the man who does not speak too much of himself. – The Stoic Emperor

I am wiser than this man, for neither of us appears to know anything great and good; but he fancies he knows something, although he knows nothing; whereas I, as I do not know anything, so I do not fancy I do. – Socrates

A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them. – John C. Maxwell

Audacity gets you to shoot for big goals and humility gives you the open-mindedness to take in the best thinking available to you to get you to those goals. – Ray Dalio

What if, for starters, instead of constantly trying to prove how much smarter we are than others, we look for the intelligence in what others do. – Neil Strauss

The faculty to think objectively is reason; the emotional attitude behind reason is that of humility. – Erich Fromm

We’re all the stars of our own movies, but cutting back on the number of Do you know who I am? thoughts made my life infinitely smoother. – Dan Harris

My opponent is my teacher. My ego is my enemy. – Renzo Gracie

It is not who is right, but what is right, that is of importance. – Thomas Huxley

We can’t bring anything to us unless we are grateful for what we already have. – Rhonda Byrne

Humility requires discipline of the tongue. – Joyce Meyer

Be like the bamboo the higher you grow the deeper you bow. – Chinese proverb

Everyone praises their own work (or possession), no matter how inferior it is. – Russian proverb

Self-praise is no recommendation. – Romanian proverb

Spoil not an act of kindness by speaking of it. – Proverb

To a person who has true humility, words are vows. – Filipino proverb

Even if you believe you are right, consider the possibility that you could be wrong. – Joyce Meyer

No one may pride himself at being more than an individual, and no one despondently think that he is not an individual. – Søren Kierkegaard

Be careful, ever so careful, in trumpeting your own achievements, and always talk less about yourself than about other people. Modesty is generally preferable. – Robert Greene

We have to allow ourselves to realize that we are complete fools; otherwise, we have nowhere to begin. – Chögyam Trungpa

Some ask if lowering one’s pride is conceding defeat. I think not. Humility is a sign of inner strength and wisdom. – Haemin Sunim

Pride is concerned with who is right while humility is concerned with what is right. – Ezra Taft Benson

Humility, like gratitude, is not so much a technique as it is a way of life. – Ed Latimore

Keep your head up in failure, and your head down in success. – Jerry Seinfeld

The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk. – Marcus Tullius Cicero

The less people speak of their greatness, the more we think of it. – Francis Bacon

You won’t learn if you think you already know everything. – Robert T. Kiyosaki

If you stay humble, you stay open. If you stay open, you keep learning. If you keep learning, it means you are growing. It means you’re living. Maxime Lagacé

To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness. – Benjamin Franklin

Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service and character. – William Arthur Ward

My desire for knowledge is intermittent, but my desire to bathe my head in atmospheres unknown to my feet is perennial and constant. – Henry David Thoreau

“Thank you” – two words that have the most unfathomable power to transform your life. Say thank you to everyone you meet today. – Rhonda Byrne

In essence, you are neither inferior nor superior to anyone. True self-esteem and true humility arise out of that realization. In the eyes of the ego, self-esteem and humility are contradictory. In truth, they are one and the same. – Eckhart Tolle

Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble. – John Madden

We have to humble ourselves and the way you do that is by serving other people. – Tim Tebow

Being humble takes more courage than hauling arrogance. – Desmond Fouche

The humblest is the greatest. To display humility isn’t weak. It’s strong and sure and brave. – Robin Sharma

Humbleness is a sign of bigness – never weakness. – Robin Sharma

Simplicity is the trademark of genius. – Robin Sharma

Humility leads to strength and not to weakness. It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them. – John J. McCloy

Humility and simplicity help us better than anything else to acquire the right frame of mind to grow towards perfection. – Abbe de Tourville

Selflessness is humility. Humility and freedom go hand in hand. Only a humble person can be free. – Jeff Wilson

There is something in humility which, strangely enough, exalts the heart, and something in pride which debases it. – Augustine of Hippo

Humility Quotes

Humility Quotes

He who truly knows has no occasion to shout. – Leonardo da Vinci

Be smart, but never show it. – Louis B Mayer

The first product of self-knowledge is humility. – Flannery O’Connor

If humility does not precede all that we do, our efforts are fruitless. – Augustine of Hippo

Don’t build a wall of lies around yourself. Have the honesty and courage to accept your vulnerability and you’ll flow through life. – Maxime Lagacé

Losing is a learning experience. It teaches you humility. It teaches you to work harder. It’s also a powerful motivator. – Yogi Berra

With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. – Courage is the foundation of integrity. – Keshavan Nair

Humility isn’t denying your strengths; it’s being honest about your weaknesses. – Rick Warren

If you had not suffered as you have, there would be no depth to you, no humility, no compassion. – Eckhart Tolle

Humility of heart is the first step to salvation. – Zac Poonen

Until you have suffered much in your heart, you cannot learn humility. – Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

If pain doesn’t lead to humility, you have wasted your suffering. – Katerina Stoykova Klemer

A humble man is not afraid of failure. In fact, he is not afraid of anything, even himself. – Thomas Merton

Humility and patience are the surest proofs of the increase of love. – John Wesley

Loving and caring for someone shows humility, but most of all, strength. – Maxime Lagacé

Meekness and humility are two of the most beautiful aspects of love. – Joyce Meyer

Whoever loves becomes humble. Those who love have, so to speak, pawned a part of their narcissism. – Sigmund Freud

Self-reflection starts with humility. It’s the way we begin to get better and strengthen each and every relationship. – Todd Davis

Every one is worthy of love, except him who thinks that he is. Love is a sacrament that should be taken kneeling. – Oscar Wilde

The healing is in the humility. Not in getting even or holding a grudge. – Joel Osteen

The obedience is what brings the blessing. The way to be obedient is to walk in humility. – Joel Osteen

Love, being dependent on the relative absence of narcissism, requires the development of humility, objectivity and reason. – Erich Fromm

“Thank you” is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding. – Alice Walker

To be humble is to be great. To be loving is to become heroic. – Robin Sharma

Only humility knows how to appreciate and admire the good qualities of others. – Sri Chinmoy

Pride hopes to impress; humility seeks to bless. – Stephen R. Covey

Arrogance is the easiest and most futile way to feel good about yourself because you feel superior to others. Humility is the hardest but surest way to feel good about yourself because it shows care for others. By caring for others, you care for yourself. Maxime Lagacé

Success leads to the greatest failure, which is pride. Failure leads to the greatest success, which is humility and learning. – David Brooks

Ego clouds the mind precisely when it needs to be clear. – Ryan Holiday

Ego is the enemy. – Ryan Holiday

The arrogant make fun of others.The humble make fun of themselves. – Rick Warren

Pride makes us more certain and closed-minded than we should be. – David Brooks

In the eyes of the ego, self-esteem and humility are contradictory. In truth, they are one and the same. – Eckhart Tolle

Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself. – Friedrich Nietzsche

Pride is pleasure arising from a man’s thinking too highly of himself. – Baruch Spinoza

There are two things that men should never weary of, goodness and humility; we get none too much of them in this rough world among cold, proud people. – Robert Louis Stevenson

Don’t let pride hold you back. The new beginning is in your humility. – Joel Osteen

You can have no greater sign of confirmed pride than when you think you are humble enough. – William Law

Throughout my life I’ve observed how important it is to cast off all forms of arrogance and cultivate humility. – Dr. Wolfgang Porsche

No one reaches the kingdom of Heaven except by humility. – Augustine of Hippo

Better to give than to receive. Acts 20:35

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:12

No one is respected unless he is humble; arrogant people are on the way to ruin. Proverbs 18:12

Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor. Proverbs 18:12

The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life. Proverbs 22:4

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. James 3:13

Don’t be misled – you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Galatians 6:7

Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3-4

Humility Quotes

Humility Quotes

A truly humble person doesn’t engage in self-depreciation – they appreciate all their amazing talents and abilities and recognize they are gifts from God. – Joyce Meyer

The more humble and obedient to God a man is, the more wise and at peace he will be in all that he does. – Thomas à Kempis

In perfect humility all selfishness disappears and your soul no longer lives for itself or in itself for God: and it is lost and submerged in Him and transformed into Him. – Thomas Merton

I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ and the brightest evidences that He is indeed our Master. – John Newton

Plenty of people wish to become devout, but no one wishes to be humble. – François de La Rochefoucauld

The barrier during self-improvement is not so much that we hate learning, rather we hate being taught. To learn entails that the knowledge was achieved on one’s own accord – it feels great – but to be taught often leaves a feeling of inferiority. Thus it takes a bit of determination and a lot of humility in order for one to fully develop. – Criss Jami

With too much pride a man cannot learn a thing. In and of itself, learning teaches you how foolish you are. – Criss Jami

A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying in other words that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. – Alexander Pope

Learning is the very essence of humility, learning from everything and from everybody. There is no hierarchy in learning. – Jiddu Krishnamurti

It is an attitude of great hubris to be unwilling to learn. It shows that you think you already know what you need to know. An eagerness to learn from anyone and everyone signifies humility and intelligence. – The Ancient Sage

If you’re going to reach your highest potential, you have to humble yourself and do things you don’t understand. It takes humility to be the bigger person. – Joel Osteen

No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. – Orson F. Whitney

Your ego can become an obstacle to your work. If you start believing in your greatness, it is the death of your creativity. – Marina Abramovic

Fight your own pride and ego and be open-minded and always learning new techniques, new things from anyone. – Sam Sheridan

No learning without humility. No growth without pain. No reward without risk. No change without loss. Embrace. Endure. – The Stoic Emperor

An intelligent person is never afraid or ashamed to find errors in their understanding of things. – Bryant H. McGill

Life teaches us through errors. When we accept the lesson from our mistake with humility and gratitude, we grow that much more. – Haemin Sunim

To learn requires a sense of humility. – Robert Greene

To negate the ego you must adopt a kind of humility toward knowledge. – Robert Greene

If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. – Lao Tzu

It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles. – Niccolò Machiavelli

Success doesn’t matter if you can’t keep your humility. – Mel Robbins

Let your work speak for you, and then just keep working. – Mel Robbins

Intellectual humility is a critical trait for would-be founders, perhaps for anyone really ambitious. – Paul Graham

The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for doing them. – Benjamin Jowett

Don’t confuse humility with meekness. Humility is being open to the ideas of others. – Bob Gaylor

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. – Lao Tzu

Leadership is not a popularity contest. it’s about leaving your ego at the door. The name of the game is to lead without a title. – Robin Sharma

Humility must accompany all our actions, must be with us everywhere; for as soon as we glory in our good works they are of no further value to our advancement in virtue. – Augustine Of Hippo

It is not for me to judge another man’s life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone. – Herman Hesse

There are four dimensions to character: authenticity, self-management, humility, and courage. – John C. Maxwell

Nobody likes working with a leader who is full of himself and works only for his own benefit. People want to work with a leader who displays humility. – John C. Maxwell

Great leaders are great listeners, who know their best asset is the people they work with. – Richard Branson

Humble people can do great things with uncommon perfection because they are no longer concerned about their own interests and their own reputation, and therefore they no longer need to waste their efforts in defending them. – Thomas Merton

I believe that the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I don’t mean by humility, doubt of his power. But really great men have a curious feeling that the greatness is not of them, but through them. – John Ruskin

Making mistakes isn’t enough to become great. You must also admit the mistake, and then learn how to turn that mistake into an advantage. – Robert T. Kiyosaki

When in trouble, be humble, write down the mistakes you’ve made and why you made them, and then seek help from successful people in those fields. – Robert T. Kiyosaki

Experience gained in mastering one domain will be valuable in mastering another, if you can retain the humility that allows you to tolerate being a beginner. – The Stoic Emperor

Being humble means recognizing that we are not on earth to see how important we can become, but to see how much difference we can make in the lives of others. – Gordon B. Hinckley

Leaders must be willing to put the ship’s performance ahead of their egos. – Michael Abrashoff

Pride can make a leader a loser. Humility is freedom from that destructive attitude. – Joyce Meyer

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. – Thomas Merton

To the extent we behave with humility, to that extent good will result. – Ramana Maharshi

On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom. – Michel de Montaigne

If I had to name my greatest strength, I guess it would be my humility. Greatest weakness, it’s possible that I’m a little too awesome. – Barack Obama

Who knows himself a braggart, let him fear this, for it will come to pass that every braggart shall be found an ass. – William Shakespeare

Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose honest arrogance and have seen no occasion to change. – Frank Lloyd Wright

Pride is about my glory; humility is about God’s glory. – Ephesians

Life is a long lesson in humility. – Sir James Matthew Barrie

It’s all about humanity, humility, and integrity. – Debra Wilson

Humility and knowledge in poor clothes excel pride and ignorance in costly attire. – William Penn

Pride makes us artificial; humility make us real. – Thomas Merton

Never be proud but show humility towards others, true wisdom lies in being humble. – Shri Radhe Maa

Be like the bamboo the higher you grow the deeper you bow. – Chinese Proverb

Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right. – Ezra Taft Benson

Humility, like darkness reveals the heavenly lights. – Henry David Thoreau

Some people would rather die in their pride, than live in their humility. – Anthony Liccione

Stay true in the dark and humble in the spotlight. – Harold B. Lee

To a person who has true humility, words are vows. – Filipino Proverb

Arrogance closes more doors than it opens. Stay humble. – Toni Payne

If humility does not precede all that we do, our efforts are fruitless. – St Augustine

It’s about having the humility. It’s about not saying no. Even when you’ve made it. You’re never too big. – Gary Vaynerchuk

Be humble in your confidence yet courageous in your character. – Melanie Koulouris

We can choose to humble ourselves by conquering enmity toward our brothers and sisters, esteeming them as ourselves, and lifting them as high or higher than we are. – Ezra Taft Benson

Self-confidence is very important. But without compassion and humility, it’s just arrogance. – Anonymous

I always say be humble but be firm. Humility and openness are the key to success without compromising your beliefs. – George Hickenlooper

I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps. – Mahatma Gandhi

A sarcastic person has a superiority complex that can be cured only by the honesty of humility. – Lawrence G. Lovasik

All streams flow to the ocean because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power. – Lao Tzu

To be a leader means to have humility, to have respect and to serve the people that we are leading. And that type of character, that type of integrity not only brings real fulfillment to our own hearts, but also has a great effect on the lives of all the people around us. – Radhanath Swami

Ego kills knowledge, as knowledge requires learning, and learning requires humility. – Rolsey

Being humble means recognizing that we are not on earth to see how important we can become, but to see how much difference we can make in the lives of others – Gordon B. Hinckley

One cannot be humble and aware of oneself at the same time. – Madeleine L’Engle

Have more humility. Remember you don’t know the limits of your own abilities. Successful or not, if you keep pushing beyond yourself, you will enrich your own life–and maybe even please a few strangers. – A.L. Kennedy

A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being. – James E. Faust

We learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean… and we were taught to value everyone’s contribution and treat everyone with respect. – Michelle Obama

There is no respect for others without humility in one’s self. – Henri Frederic Amiel

Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real. – Thomas Merton

Only a person who has passed through the gate of humility can ascend to the heights of the spirit. – Rudolf Steiner

Sports are such a great teacher. I think of everything they’ve taught me: camaraderie, humility, how to resolve differences. – Kobe Bryant

Great leaders don’t need to act tough. Their confidence and humility serve to underscore their toughness. – Simon Sinek

If anything is good for pounding humility into you permanently, it’s the restaurant business. – Anthony Bourdain

Where there is humility, there is more success, and lasting success. – Patrick Lencioni

Let us be absolutely clear about one thing: we must not confuse humility with false modesty or servility. – Paulo Coelho

Honesty is grounded in humility and indeed in humiliation, and in admitting exactly where we are powerless. – David Whyte

Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose the former and have seen no reason to change. – Frank Lloyd Wright

The proud man can learn humility, but he will be proud of it. – Mignon McLaughlin

Whenever I’m around some who is modest, I think, ‘Run like hell and all of fire.’ You don’t want modesty, you want humility. – Maya Angelou

Have the humility to learn from those around you. – John C. Maxwell

Uncertainty is a sign of humility, and humility is just the ability or the willingness to learn. – Charlie Sheen

Power is dangerous unless you have humility. – Richard J. Daley

Endless effort, endless humility, endless modesty. – Rain

It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility. – Yogi Berra

Humility Quotes

Humility Quotes

Humility, I have learned, must never be confused with meekness. Humility is being open to the ideas of others. – Simon Sinek

An actor should always let humility outweigh ambition. – Anna Kendrick

Personally, I rather look forward to a computer program winning the world chess championship. Humanity needs a lesson in humility. – Richard Dawkins

Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast. – Jane Austen

In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet. – Winston Churchill

Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer,He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone. – Epictetus

No one is so sure of his premise as the man who knows too little. – Barbara W. Tuchman

Sense shines with a double luster when it is set in humility. An able yet humble man is a jewel worth a kingdom. – William Penn

Never be haughty to the humble or humble to the haughty. – Jefferson Davis

An humble knowledge of thyself is a surer way to God than a deep search after learning. – Thomas Kempis

What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left. – Oscar Levant

If I had any humility I would be perfect. – Ted Turner

Real genius is nothing else but the supernatural virtue of humility in the domain of thought. – Simone Weil

The first test of a truly great man is his humility. By humility I don’t mean doubt of his powers or hesitation in speaking his opinion, but merely an understanding of the relationship of what he can say and what he can do. – John Ruskin

Obedience to the word in humility of mind never confuses. – John Nelson Darby

Humility, that low, sweet root, from which all heavenly virtues shoot. – Thomas Moore

In the intellectual order, the virtue of humility is nothing more nor less than the power of attention. – Simone Weil

I have to stay humble. I’m just a normal human with a job that is televised. – Jai Rodriguez

A dose of humility goes a long way in life and in politics. – Ron Fournier

Knowledge is proud that it knows so much; wisdom is humble that it knows no more. – William Cowper

It’s continuously humbling to work hard, you know? As long as you’ve got a good work ethic and a sense of humor, I don’t think anybody can become too much of an egoist under those circumstances. – Rachael Ray

When it comes to true humility in the face of history, nothing beats complete silence. – Lev Grossman

Knowledge is power. Information is power. The secreting or hoarding of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility. – Robin Morgan

In a way, a certain amount of self-criticism is a good thing, because it keeps you humble. Realizing that no matter what success you’ve achieved, you can still make enemies makes you humble, too. – Lynn Johnston

Sincerity may be humble but she cannot be servile. – George Byron

We have to stop and be humble enough to understand that there is something called mystery. – Paulo Coelho

I’m coming from a place of total strength and humility now. – Robert Downey, Jr.

Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. – William Cowper

Let us lose none of their humble words, let us note their slightest gestures, and tell me, tell me that we will think of them together, now and later, when we realise the misery of the times and the magnitude of their sacrifice. – Georges Duhamel

If we learn not humility, we learn nothing. – John Jewel

I just want to be humble at all times. – Mike Tyson

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. – Jesus Christ

There is that indescribable freshness and unconsciousness about an illiterate person that humbles and mocks the power of the noblest expressive genius. – Walt Whitman

The whole course of human history may depend on a change of heart in one solitary and even humble individual – for it is in the solitary mind and soul of the individual that the battle between good and evil is waged and ultimately won or lost. – M. Scott Peck

When someone saves your life and gives you life, there’s gratitude, humility; there’s a time you’ve been so blessed you realize you’ve been given another chance at life that maybe you did or didn’t deserve. – Pat Summerall

Religion in its humility restores man to his only dignity, the courage to live by grace. – George Santayana

The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is. – Phillips Brooks

Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing. – Camille Pissarro

The humblest occupation has in it materials of discipline for the highest heaven. – Frederick William Robertson

Be modest, humble, simple. Control your anger. – Abraham Cahan

I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires. – Khalil Gibran

The humble and meek are thirsting for blood. – Joe Orton

The humblest individual exerts some influence, either for good or evil, upon others. – Henry Ward Beecher

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. – Galileo Galilei

Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair. – Blaise Pascal

A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others. – Robert E. Lee

Let us be a little humble; let us think that the truth may not perhaps be entirely with us. – Jawaharlal Nehru

One may be humble out of pride. – Michel de Montaigne

There is no gardening without humility. Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the class for some egregious blunder. – Alfred Austin

Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work. – Mother Teresa

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. – Norman Vincent Peale

True love is quiescent, except in the nascent moments of true humility. – Bryant H. McGill

Affliction is the wholesome soil of virtue, where patience, honor, sweet humility, and calm fortitude, take root and strongly flourish. – David Mallet

There is no disease more conducive to clinical humility than aneurysm of the aorta. – William Osler

Humble souls are fearful of their own strength. – William Gurnall

The humble are in danger when those in power disagree. – Phaedrus

Pride works frequently under a dense mask, and will often assume the garb of humility. – Adam Clarke

Vanity is a mark of humility rather than of pride. – Jonathan Swift

The humblest citizen of all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error. – William Jennings Bryan

Success is not a good teacher, failure makes you humble. – Shahrukh Khan

Humility Quotes

Humility Quotes

You have to be humble when you’re dealing with God. – Jill Scott

There is something in humility which strangely exalts the heart. – Saint Augustine

The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. – John Marshall Harlan

The more you are in this business, the more humbled by it you become. – Meryl Streep

Sin recognized but that may keep us humble, But oh, it keeps us nasty. – Margaret Smith

Traits like humility, courage, and empathy are easily overlooked – but it’s immensely important to find them in your closest relationships. – Laura Linney

A disease and its treatment can be a series of humiliations, a chisel for humility. – Laurel Lee

In such a state, humility is the virtue of men, and their only defense; to walk humbly with God, never doubting, whatever befall, that His will is good, and that His law is right. – Paul Elmer More

There is greatness in the fear of God, contentment in faith of God, and honor in humility. – Abu Bakr

The unassuming youth seeking instruction with humility gains good fortune. – Joseph Addison

The feet of the humblest may walk in the field Where the feet of the Holiest trod, This, then, is the marvel to mortals revealed. – Phillips Brooks

It is the grace of God, that shows and condemns the sin that humbles us. – Adam Clarke

He that humbleth himself wishes to be exalted. – Friedrich Nietzsche

Fairest and best adorned is she whose clothing is humility. – James Montgomery

The sufficiency of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient. – St. Augustine

Fullness of knowledge always and necessarily means some understanding of the depths of our ignorance, and that is always conducive to both humility and reverence. – Robert A. Millikan

He who sacrifices a whole offering shall be rewarded for a whole offering; he who offers a burnt-offering shall have the reward of a burnt-offering; but he who offers humility to God and man shall be rewarded with a reward as if he had offered all the sacrifices in the world. – The Talmud

Some persons are always ready to level those above them down to themselves, while they are never willing to level those below them up to their own position. But he that is under the influence of true humility will avoid both these extremes. On the the one hand, he will be willing that all should rise just so far as their diligence and worth of character entitle them to; and on the other hand, he will be willing that his superiors should be known and acknowledged in their place, and have rendered to them all the honors that are their due. – Jonathan Edwards

True humility—the basis of the Christian system—is the low but deep and firm foundation of all virtues. – Edmund Burke

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. – Matthew 5:5

The grace which makes every other grace amiable. – Alfred Mercier

If thou desire the love of God and man, be humble; for the proud heart, as it loves none but itself, so it is believed of none but by itself; the voice of humility is God’s music, and the silence of humility is God’s rhetoric. Humility enforces where neither virtue nor strength can prevail nor reason. – Francis Quarles

The fullest and best ears of corn hang lowest toward the ground. – Bishop Reynolds

If thou wouldst find much favor and peace with God and man, be very low in thine own eyes; forgive thyself little, and others much. – Leighton

After crosses and losses men grow humbler and wiser. – Benjamin Franklin

Many people believe that humility is the opposite of pride, when, in fact, it is a point of equilibrium. The opposite of pride is actually a lack of self esteem. A humble person is totally different from a person who cannot recognize and appreciate himself as part of this worlds marvels. – Rabino Nilton Bonder

Sense shines with a double luster when it is set in humility. An able and yet humble man is a jewel worth a kingdom. – William Penn

If thou wilt receive profit, read with humility, simplicity and faith, and seek not at any time the fame of being learned. – Thomas à Kempis

It is said that it is far more difficult to hold and maintain leadership (liberty) that it is to attain it. Success is a ruthless competitor for it flatters and nourishes our weaknesses and lulls us into complacency. We bask in the sunshine of accomplishment and lose the spirit of humility which helps us visualize all the factors which have contributed to our success. We are apt to forget that we are only one of a team, that in unity there is strength and that we are strong only as long as each unit in our organization functions with precision. – Samuel Tilden

In a humble state, you learn better. I can’t find anything else very exciting about humility, but at least there’s that. – John Dooner

When we become aware of our humility, we’ve lost it. – Unknown

A man who is at the top is a man who has the habit of getting to the bottom. – Joseph E. Rogers

Our ego hinders our ability to influence more than anything else under our control. – Michael McKinney

I don’t like offending people, and it’s easy to offend people when you don’t know as much as they do. This group knows more about what it takes to lead in this way than I ever will. My goal is to push people, but I need to do it from a place of respect. – Seth Godin

Self-reflection entails asking yourself questions about your values, assessing your strengths and failures, thinking about your perceptions and interactions with others, and imagining where you want to take your life in the future. – Bob Rosen

A great leader needs to love and respect people, and he needs to be comfortable with himself and with the world. He also needs to be able to forgive himself and others. In other words, a leader needs grace. – Leo Hindery Jr.

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. – G.K. Chesterton

Modesty is the gentle art of enhancing your charm by pretending not to be aware of it. – Oliver Herford

Modesty is the lowest of the virtues, and is a confession of the deficiency it indicates. He who undervalues himself is justly overvalued by others. – William Hazlitt

You shouldn’t gloat about anything you’ve done; you ought to keep going and find something better to do. – David Packard

If every fool wore a crown, we should all be kings. – Welsh Proverb

The man who thinks he can live without others is mistaken; the one who thinks others can’t live without him is even more deluded. – Hasidic Saying

As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on thing and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you. – C.S. Lewis

A true genius admits that he or she knows nothing. – Albert Einstein

People that put themselves above others will fall longer and harder. – Gina Lindley

None are so empty as those who are full of themselves. – Benjamin Whichcote

Don’t look for more honor than your learning merits. – Jewish Proverb

When someone sings his own praises, he always gets the tune too high. – Mary H. Waldrip

When science discovers the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to find they are not it. – Bernard Baily

Be careful not to mistake insecurity and inadequacy for humility! Humility has nothing to do with the insecure and inadequate! Just like arrogance has nothing to do with greatness! – C. JoyBell C.

Humble is such a lonely word. – Kak Sri

It is always the secure who are humble. – G.K. Chesterton

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. – Ernest Hemingway

We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glowworm. – Winston Churchill

Humility means accepting reality with no attempt to outsmart it. – David Richo

If I only had a little humility, I would be perfect. – Ted Turner

The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. The world crushes the dust under its feet, but the seeker after truth should so humble himself that even the dust could crush him. Only then, and not till then, will he have a glimpse of truth. – Mahatma Gandhi

A just and reasonable modesty does not only recommend eloquence, but sets off every great talent which a man can be possessed of. – Joseph Addison

Nothing is more humbling than to look with a strong magnifying glass at an insect so tiny that the naked eye sees only the barest speck and to discover that nevertheless it is sculpted and articulated and striped with the same care and imagination… – Rudolf Arnheim

Ah, the first step in humility: Listening. – Dr. Michael Beckwith

Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grows. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves. – Henry Ward Beecher

Some of the best artists I’ve known have enormous humility. – Brenda Behr

To humiliate and be humiliated, I think, is a crucial element in our whole social structure. It’s not only the artist I’m sorry for. It’s just that I know exactly where he feels most humiliated. – Ingmar Bergman

At least I have the modesty to admit that lack of modesty is one of my failings. – Hector Berlioz

Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less. – Kenneth Blanchard

O be very sure
That no man will learn anything at all,
Unless he first will learn humility. – Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

The beginner’s humility and openness lead to exploration. Exploration leads to accomplishment. All of it begins at the beginning, with the first small and scary step. – Julia Cameron

We decided that humility was defined not by self-deprecating behavior or attitudes but by the esteem with which you regard others… Generally, you can be humble only if you feel really good about yourself – and you want to help those around you feel really good about themselves, too. – Clayton M. Christensen

A modest little person, with much to be modest about. – Winston Churchill

We cannot think too highly of our nature, nor too humbly of ourselves. – Charles Caleb Colton

Never be haughty to the humble; never be humble to the haughty. – Jefferson Davis

After I’m dead I’d rather have people ask why I have no monument than why I have one. – Cato the Elder

Extremes meet, and there is no better example than the naughtiness of humility. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The unanswerable mysteries… the attitude that all is uncertain… to summarize it – the humility of the intellect. – Richard Feynman

The basis of action on love, the brotherhood of all men, the value of the individual… the humility of the spirit. – Richard Feynman

Art, because it’s so easy to do, and yet so difficult to do well, encourages humility in the human soul. – Robert Genn

Humilitas profugio est. – Humility is bunk. – Kjerkius Gennius

Wherever valor true is found, true modesty will there abound. – W. S. Gilbert

With sincere modesty, if there is such a thing, I have never thought of legacy at all. I am always grateful if people like what I have done. A legacy is something no one can forsee. – Tom Glazer

Be humble; learn from everybody. – Irwin Greenberg

To test a modest man’s modesty do not investigate if he ignores applause, find out if he abides criticism. – Franz Grillparzer

Proud souls in the true sense are never humbled by adversity. – Henry S. Haskins

With humility comes the willingness to stop trying to control or change other people or life situations or events ostensibly ‘for their own good.’ – David R. Hawkins

With humility one can see that the mind is limited and incapable of seeing all the circumstances surrounding any event. Out of this arises the willingness to let go of condemnation and judgment. – David R. Hawkins

Be humble about it. Paint the color tones as they come against each other, and make them sing, vibrate. Don’t ask me to look at those self-satisfied, pretty things. – Charles Hawthorne

The great humiliation in life is to work hard on something from which you expect great appreciation, and then fail to get it. – Edgar Watson Howe

Loving and appreciating each individual, including ourselves, as the showing forth of the One Creative Principle, takes a great deal of humility and this includes sharing. – Richard Kent

Keep your self-criticism to yourself. Humility at the low end will never garner interest. – Jackie Knott

It’s good to have some humility, a daily dose of reality, and to always remember where our talent comes from, ultimately. – Jamie Lavin

Stay humble. Always answer your phone – no matter who else is in the car. – Jack Lemmon

A man who has humility will have acquired in the last reaches of his beliefs the saving doubt of his own certainty. – Walter Lippmann

Regardless of how much information I have processed or how much knowledge of art materials or theories I possess, I always feel humble. I feel like a novice picking up the brush for the first time in front of a new canvas. – Jeanean Songco Martin

It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help. – Judith Martin

Don’t be so humble – you are not that great. – Golda Meir

We can never be a nation of snobs so long as we are willing to poke fun at ourselves. – Edgar Wilson Nye

To be part of the creation, I must act humbly. I’ll take that over a goddess any day! – Maureen O’Hara

In the glare of your mind, be modest. And beholden to what is tactile, and thrilling. – Mary Oliver

You come to the master only in deep humbleness, because learning is possible only in humbleness. You have come to surrender, not to perform, not to manipulate, not to impress. – Osho

Few men speak humbly of humility, chastely of chastity, skeptically of skepticism. – Blaise Pascal

Humility counts for much, but it may be that vanity does not dispossess that admirable quality. – Walter J. Phillips

Humble in a humble state and great in greatness,
I will work out the divinity that is busy within my mind. – Pindar

Waiho ma te tangata e mihi – Leave your praises for someone else. – Maori proverb

Fearing no insult, asking for no crown, receive with indifference both flattery and slander, and do not argue with a fool. – Alexander Pushkin

Truly powerful people have great humility. They do not try to impress; they do not try to be influential. They simply are. People are magnetically drawn to them. – Sanaya Roman

Apology is a lovely perfume; it can transform the clumsiest moment into a gracious gift. – Margaret Lee Runbeck

I believe that the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I do not mean by humility, doubt of his own powers. But really great men have a curious feeling that the greatness is not in them, but through them. And they see something divine in every other man and are endlessly, foolishly, incredibly merciful. – John Ruskin

Art, itself, is humility at one with pride. In art, the successful humility is the soul’s swellingness. The relaxation of the ego is its might. – Eli Siegel

With my work I attempt to help man to overcome his alienation; I do this by surrounding his daily life with objects, which confront him in a tactile way with the final and deepest problems of our existence. I want the means that I employ to create the necessary stimulus to be as direct as possible. Instead of giving a sermon on humility, I often prefer to depict humility itself. – Antoni Tapies

Modesty is the triumph of mind over flattery. – Frank Tyger

Men sometimes feel injured by praise because it assigns a limit to their merit; few people are modest enough not to take offense that one appreciates them. – Marquis de Vauvenargues

To bear defeat with dignity, to accept criticism with poise, to receive honors with humility – these are marks of maturity and graciousness. – William Arthur Ward

Repentance is a grace of God’s Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed. – Thomas J. Watson, Sr.

It is only with total humility, and in absolute stillness of mind that we can know what indeed we are. – Wei Wu Wei

I want to convey a sense of my world in my time… without sentimentality. But the older I get, the more humbled I am by the process. – Skip Whitcomb

There is a lovely root to the word humiliation – from the latin word humus, meaning soil or ground. When we are humiliated, we are in effect returning to the ground of our being. – David Whyte

To seek exalted beauty with humility and to communicate it with awe, have always been and always will be considered noble, for it is not dependent on the times one lives in. – John H. Wurdeman

About humility we speak with an analogy: When the branches are full of fruit, they just bow down. – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked. – Lord Chesterfield

I myself do nothing. The Holy Spirit accomplishes all through me. – William Blake

Never be haughty to the humble, never be humble to the haughty. – Mark Twain

If you wish to be popular in society consent to be taught many things you already know. – Talleyrand

If you wish to be loved, be modest; if you wish to be admired, be proud; if you wish both, combine external modesty with internal pride. – Will Durant

Humility Quotes

Humility Quotes

Astronomy, as nothing else can do, teaches men humility. – Arthur Clarke

I am no more humble than my talents require. – Oscar Levant

Be the chief but never the lord. – Lao-Tzu

Mr. Attlee is a very modest man. Indeed he has a lot to be modest about. – Winston Churchill

The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions. – Confucius

The flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lowly. – William Wordsworth

Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise. – Lord Chesterfield

You think you are modest. I did not know you so proud. – Duc de Levis

All those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. – Gospel of Luke 23:12

He conquers who conquers himself. – Vincit qui se vincit

You know what keeps me humble? Mirrors! – Phyllis Diller

For whatever good you do, praise the gods not yourself. – Bias of Priene

Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide. – Cicero

The superior man is distressed by the limitations of his ability; he is not distressed by the fact that men do not recognize the ability that he has. – Confucius

He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good. – Confucius

The superior man is satisfied and composed; the mean man is always full of distress. – Confucius

An angel fell from Heaven without any other passion except pride, and so we may ask whether it is possible to ascend to Heaven by humility alone, without any other of the virtues. – John Climacus

For the Christian, humility is absolutely indispensable. Without it there can be no self-knowledge, no repentance, no faith and no salvation. – Aiden Wilson Tozer

Stay hungry, stay young, stay foolish, stay curious, and above all, stay humble because just when you think you got all the answers, is the moment when some bitter twist of fate in the universe will remind you that you very much don’t. – Tom Hiddleston

The virtue of pride, which was once the beauty of mankind, has given place to that fount of ugliness, Christian humility. – Max Ernst

Christian humility does not consist in denying what there is of good in us; but in an abiding sense of ill-desert, and in the consciousness that what we have of good is due to the grace of God. – Charles Hodge

Part of humility is taking responsibility for my sin and asking forgiveness even when it doesn’t feel good. God wants to heal and restore your relationships, but it’s not easy. – Chip Ingram

Nothing sets a person so much out of the devil’s reach as humility. – Jonathan Edwards

No matter how good you think you are as a leader, my goodness, the people around you will have all kinds of ideas for how you can get better. So for me, the most fundamental thing about leadership is to have the humility to continue to get feedback and to try to get better – because your job is to try to help everybody else get better. – Jim Yong Kim

If you plan to build a tall house of virtues, you must first lay deep foundations of humility. – Augustine

There is nothing I can do to undo what I did. I can only say again how sorry I am to those I let down and then strive to go forward with a greater sense of humility and purpose, and with gratitude to those who stood with me during a very difficult chapter in my life. – David Petraeus

The only humility that is really ours is not that which we try to show before God in prayer, but that which we carry with us in our daily conduct. – Andy Murray

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Chronicles : The sufficiency of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient. – St. Augustine

Religion is meant to teach us true spiritual human character. It is meant for self-transformation. It is meant to transform anxiety into peace, arrogance into humility, envy into compassion, to awaken the pure soul in man and his love for the Source, which is God. – Radhanath Swami

The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it. – Vincent de Paul

A Christian reveals true humility by showing the gentleness of Christ, by being always ready to help others, by speaking kind words and performing unselfish acts, which elevate and ennoble the most sacred message that has come to our world. – Ellen G. White

The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That’s the day we truly grow up. – John C. Maxwell

A humble person is more likely to be self confident… a person with real humility knows how much they are loved. – Cornelius Plantinga

You are braver and more courageous than you realize; but fail to act or speak out, for fear of displeasing others; the anguish one lives for not acting instinctively, hurts more than if you acted.
The most significant aspect of any long term sustained relationship is trust; not even love is stronger; hence, you can love someone without trust.
When in love with someone, they must be your priority and paramount concern in life; and there should always be reciprocation; any other scenario creates a relationship molded with anxiety. – RJ Intindola

I am much more offended by children being gunned down in their schools than by being called a snowflake. Go right ahead, and then tell me why it’s okay for boys and girls to lose their lives en masse. I’ll wait. – unknown

We seem to be laboring under the delusion that none of us can possibly be special. We used to tell people that everyone is special, but this new attitude of pessimism is not helping us move forward. Of course everyone is special. That doesn’t make everyone capable of being an astronaut, but they’re still special. – unknown

We need to do some serious transformative work to our social paradigm. Instead of a ‘me’ culture, this needs to be a ‘we’ culture—that’s when we’ll be able to work together to put an end to these global crises of famine, climate change, and so forth. – unknown

The next time you go to crank up the AC, remember there are people who walk for miles in the hot sun daily for a few sips of unclean water. – unknown

I was talking to a friend and they told me that they’d recently accidentally stepped on their dog’s tail, and how sorry they were, how crushed they felt at the look of fear and betrayal in their pet’s eyes. As she told me this story, she was biting into a chicken sandwich, and I thought about the fear in the eyes of that chicken every day of its life before it became her meal. – unknown

A lot of people are terrified of waking up during surgery. Being able to see and feel everything that’s being done to them in the procedure, unable to call for help or ask someone to stop. That fear alone should tell us everything we need to know about why vivisection is heinous. – unknown

I couldn’t fathom eating another creature’s flesh any more than I could fathom eating another human’s flesh. – unknown

We would all do well to remember that the food chain is more like a network, and everything within that network deserves respect. – unknown

A time will come in life when men will look at the maltreatment and killings of animals the same way they look on the murder of men. – unknown

A man is only noble when he has pity on all living creatures. – unknown

Peradventure a new group of beings landed on planet earth, and these beings believe they are superior over us, humans… just like most of you exercise superiority over other animals, would you ever allow such beings right over you just like you assume rights over other animals? – unknown

There are so many women suffering in silence, and, yes, men, too. There are so people who are humiliated in their own homes, in front of their children. How are they ever supposed to develop an idea of what safety is? – unknown

Humility Quotes

Humility Quotes

Quotes from Wikiquote

  • Humilitas homines sanctis angelis similes facit, et superbia ex angelis demones facit.
    • It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.
      • Augustine of Hippo, as quoted in Manipulus Florum (c. 1306), edited by Thomas Hibernicus.
  • I know how great is the effort needed to convince the proud of the power and excellence of humility, an excellence which makes it soar above the summits of this world, which sway in their temporal instability, overtopping them all with an eminence not arrogated by human pride, but granted by divine grace.
    • Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (426), H. Bettenson, trans. (1972), p. 5
  • Lowliness is the base of every virtue,
    And he who goes the lowest builds the safest.

    • Philip James Bailey, Festus (1813), scene Home.
  • MEEKNESS, n. Uncommon patience in planning a revenge that is worth while.
    • Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary (1911).
  • “Reformation theology” … pretends to prefer to Pharasaic ostentation a modest invisibility, which in practice means conformity to the world. When that happens, the hallmark of the Church becomes justitia civilis instead of extraordinary visibility. The very failure of the light to shine becomes the touchstone of our Christianity.
    • Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Nachfolge (1937), translated as The Cost of Discipleship (1959), p. 118.
  • You should only boast about having nothing to boast about!
    • Fausto Cercignani in: Brian Morris, Simply Transcribed. Quotations from Writings by Fausto Cercignani, 2014, quote 55.
  • The whole secret of the practical success of Christendom lies in the Christian humility, however imperfectly fulfilled. For with the removal of all question of merit or payment, the soul is suddenly released for incredible voyages.
    • Gilbert K. Chesterton, Heretics (1905)
  • To acknowledge one’s incapacity is the way to be soon prepared to teach others; for from the moment that a man is no longer full of himself, nor puffed up with empty pride, whatever good he learns in the morning he practices before night.
    • Confucius (ca. 500 BC) as quoted by Israel Smith Clare, Library of Universal History, p. 539.
  • Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues.
    • Books of Kings, popularized by Confucius, quoted by Israel Smith Clare, Library of Universal History, p. 539.
  • How happy in his low degree,
    How rich in humble poverty, is he,
    Who leads a quiet country life;
    Discharged of business, void of strife

    • John Dryden, Imitation of Horace (1685), 2nd Epode
  • At very best, a person wrapped up in himself makes a small package.
    • Harry Emerson Fosdick, On Being a Real Person (1943); a similar statement has become attributed to Benjamin Franklin, but apparently only in recent decades: “A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.” This seems to have been first attributed to Franklin in The New Age Magazine Vol. 66 (1958), and the earliest appearance of it yet located is in Coronet magazine, Vol. 34 (1953), p. 27, where it was attributed to a Louise Stein.
  • We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh, but, instead, we must be simple, humble and pure.
    • Francis of Assisi, “Later Admonition and Exhortation to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance,” Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, Volume 1, p. 48
  • Dos veces es eminente el que encierra todas las perfecciones en sí, y ninguna en su estimación.
    • Twice eminent is that who encloses all the perfections into himself, and none into his estimate.
      • Baltasar Gracián, Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia, § 123
  • Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, “By jove! I’m being humble”, and almost immediately pride — pride at his own humility — will appear.
    • C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (1942), page 69 in the Harper Collins 2001 edition, ISBN 0-06-065293-4.
  • Prayer must be humble: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Here St. James tells us that God does not listen to the prayers of the proud, but resists them; while, on the other hand, he is always ready to hear the prayers of the humble.
    • Alphonsus Maria de Liguori The Conditions Requisite for the Due Performance of Prayer in: The complete works of Saint Alphonsus de Liguori: the ascetical works, Volume 2. Redemptorist Fathers, 1926. p. 435.
  • Be wise;
    Soar not too high to fall; but stoop to rise.

    • Philip Massinger, Duke of Milan (1623), Act I, scene ii.
  • Knowledge is power. Information is power. The secreting or hoarding of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility.
    • Robin Morgan Words of Women Quotations for Success
  • If “humility” means nothing more than the capacity to learn from criticism, then it has an undoubted value; but if “humility” means a willingness to submit to authority—to abandon or to modify what one is doing merely because it does not accord with the teachings of the Bible or the thoughts of Chairman Mao—then it is death to the spirit: the proper name for it, indeed, is “servility.”
    • John Passmore, The Perfectibility of Man, p. 289.
  • The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.
    • Vincent de Paul, as quoted in A Year with the Saints (1891) by Anonymous, p. 47.
  • “שְׁמַע בְּנִי מוּסַר אָבִיךָ, וְאַל תִּטֹּשׁ תּוֹרַת אִמֶּךָ תִּתְנַהֵג תָּמִיד לְדַבֵּר כָּל דְּבָרֶיךָ בְּנַחַת, לְכָל אָדָם וּבְכָל עֵת, וּבַזֶּה תִּנָּצֵל מִן הַכַּעַס, שֶׁהִיא מִדָּה רָעָה לְהַחְטִיא בְּנֵי אָדָם… וְכַאֲשֶׁר תִּנָּצֵל מִן הַכַּעַס, תַּעֲלֶה עַל לִבְּךָ מִדַּת הָעֲנָוָה, שֶׁהִיא מִדָּה טוֹבָה מִכָּל מִדּוֹ טוֹבוֹת… לְמַעַן תַּצְלִיחַ בְּכָל דְּרָכֶיךָ, וְתִזְכֶּה לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא הַצָּפוּן לַצַּדִּיקִים.”
    • Hear, my son, the instruction of your father and don’t forsake the teaching of your mother (Mishlei 1:8). Get into the habit of always speaking calmly to everyone. This will prevent you from anger, a serious character flaw which causes people to sin… Once you have distanced yourself from anger, the quality of humility will enter your heart. This radiant quality is the finest of all admirable traits… so that you will succeed in all your ways. Thus you will succeed and merit the World to Come which lies hidden away for the righteous.
    • Iggeres HaRamban, translation by [1]
  • I will not be modest. Humble, as much as you like, but not modest. Modesty is the virtue of the lukewarm.
    • Jean-Paul Sartre, The Devil and the Good Lord (1951), Act 4, sc. 5.
  • There is Humilitas quaedam in Vitio [humility taken to a fault]. If a Man does not take notice of that excellency and perfection that is in himself, how can he be thankful to God, who is the Author of all excellency and perfection?
    • John Selden, Table Talk, 54.2
  • ‘T is better to be lowly born,
    And range with humble livers in content,
    Than to be perked up in a glistering grief,
    And wear a golden sorrow.

    • Shakespeare, King Henry VIII, Act 2 scene 3.
  • Often, to our comfort, shall we find
    The sharded beetle in a safer hold
    Than is the full-wing’d eagle.

    • Shakespeare, Cymbeline (1610), Act III, scene iii.
  • When we buy new clothes not to keep ourselves warm but to look “well-dressed” we are not providing for any important need. We would not be sacrificing anything significant if we were to continue to wear our old clothes, and give the money to famine relief. By doing so, we would be preventing another person from starving. It follows from what I have said earlier that we ought to give money away, rather than spend it on clothes which we do not need to keep us warm. To do so is not charitable, or generous. Nor is it the kind of act which philosophers and theologians have called “supererogatory” – an act which it would be good to do, but not wrong not to do. On the contrary, we ought to give the money away, and it is wrong not to do so.
    • Peter Singer, Famine, Affluence, and Morality (1972).
  • Who can compare with humility? — It is set in goodness.
    • Sumerian proverb, Collection IX at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, 3rd millennium BCE.
  • A humble knowledge of oneself is a surer road to God than a deep searching of the sciences.
    • Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, Book 1, ch. 3
  • Perfection is impossible without humility. Why should I strive for perfection, if I am already good enough?
    • Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom, P. Sekirin, trans. (1997).
  • It is often better for a person to recognize a sin than to do a good deed. Recognizing a sin makes a person humble. Doing a good deed often can feed a person’s pride.
    • Leo Tolstoy, Path of Life, M. Cote, trans. (2002), p. 108
  • A lever. We lower when we want to lift. In the same way, “He who humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
    • Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace (1972), p. 84.
  • The second condition is to take great pains to examine squarely and to contemplate attentively and slowly each school task in which we have failed, seeing how unpleasing and second-rate it is, without seeking any excuse or overlooking any mistake or any of our tutor’s corrections, trying to get down to the origin of each fault. There is a great temptation to do the opposite, to give a sideways glance at the corrected exercise if it is bad, and to hide it forthwith. Most of us do this nearly always. We have to withstand this temptation. Incidentally, moreover, nothing is more necessary for academic success, because, despite all our efforts, we work without making much progress when we refuse to give our attention to the faults we have made and our tutor’s corrections.
Above all it is thus that we can acquire the virtue of humility, and that is a far more precious treasure than all academic progress. From this point of view it is perhaps even more useful to contemplate our stupidity than our sin. Consciousness of sin gives us the feeling that we are evil, and a kind of pride sometimes finds a place in it. When we force ourselves to fix the gaze, not only of our eyes but of our souls, upon a school exercise that we have failed through sheer stupidity, a sense of our mediocrity is borne in upon us with irresistible evidence. No knowledge is more to be desired. If we can arrive at knowing this truth with all our souls we shall be well established on the right foundation.

  • Simone Weil, “Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God” (1942)
  • Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
    • Luke 18:14.
  • Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
    • Matthew 5:5.
  • Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
    • Matthew 23:12 NIV.
  • By humility, and the fear of the Lord, are riches, honor, and life.
    • Solomon, Proverbs 22:4.
  • Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being little. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation. Modest humility is beauty’s crown.
    • Augustine of Hippo, p. 330.
  • “O pity, great Father of light,” then I cried,
    ” Thy creature who fain would not wander from Thee!
    Lo, humbled in dust, I relinquish my pride;
    From doubt and from darkness Thou only canst free.”

    • James Beattie, p. 332.
  • Humility is, of all graces, the chiefest when it does not know itself to be a grace at all.
    • St. Bernard, p. 329.
  • Make me like a little child,
    Simple, teachable, and mild;
    Seeing only in Thy light;
    Walking only in Thy might!

    • John Berridge, p. 334.
  • “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” This great law of the kingdom of God is, in the teaching of Christ, inscribed over its entrance-gate.
    • Thomas Browne, p. 330.
  • Now as they were going along and talking, they espied a boy feeding his father’s sheep. The boy was in very mean clothes, but of a fresh and well favored countenance; and as he sat by himself he sang:
    “He that is down, needs fear no fall;
    He that is low, no pride;
    He that is humble ever shall
    Have God to be his guide.”
    Then said Mr. Great Heart, “Do you hear him? I will dare to say this boy lives a merrier life, and wears more of that herb called heart’s-ease in his bosom than he that is clad in silk and velvet.

    • John Bunyan, p. 333.
  • Then Christian began to go forward; but Discretion, Piety, Charity, and Prudence would accompany him down to the foot of the hill. Then said Christian, “As it was difficult coming up, so, so far as I can see, it is dangerous going down.” ” Yes,” said Prudence, “so it is; for it is a hard matter for a man to go down into the valley of Humiliation, as thou art now, and to catch no slip by the way;” ” therefore,” said they, ” we are come out to accompany thee down the hill.” So he began to go down, but very warily; yet he caught a slip or two.
    • John Bunyan, p. 334.
  • I want to feel my own nothingness, I want to give myself up in absolute resignation to God, to lie prostrate and passive at His feet, with no other disposition in my heart than that of merging my will into His will, and no other language in my mouth than that of prayer for the perfecting of His strength in my weakness. I desire from the abyss of my own nothingness and vileness to cry unto God that He might cause me to do as I ought, and to be as I ought.
    • Thomas Chalmers, p. 331.
  • Humility is the root, mother, nurse, foundation, and bond of all virtue.
    • Chrysostom, p. 329.
  • Abraham teaches us the right way of conversing with God: “And Abraham fell on his face, and God talked with him.” When we plead with Him, our faces should be in the dust.
    • Richard Cecil, p. 332.
  • Confess your nothingness and ill-desert before God. Distrust yourself. Rely only upon God. Renounce all glory except from Him. Yield yourself heartily to His will and service. Avoid an aspiring, ambitious, ostentatious, assuming, arrogant, scornful, stubborn, willful, levelling, self-justifying behavior; and strive for more and more of the humble spirit that Christ manifested while He was here upon earth.
    • Jonathan Edwards, p. 331.
  • Of all trees, I observe God hath chosen the vine, a low plant that creeps upon the helpful wall; of all beasts, the soft and patient lamb; of all fowls, the mild and guileless dove. Christ is the rose of the field, and the lily of the valley. When God appeared to Moses, it was not in the lofty cedar nor the sturdy oak nor the spreading palm; but in a bush, a humble, slender, abject shrub; as if He would, by these elections, check the conceited arrogance of man.
    • Owen Feltham, p. 333.
  • I pray often to God that He would keep you in the hollow of His hand. The most essential point is lowliness. It is profitable for all things, for it produces a teachable spirit which makes every thing easy.
    • François Fénelon, p. 333.
  • Let me follow in Thy footsteps, O Jesus! I would imitate Thee, but cannot without the aid of Thy grace! O humble and lowly Saviour, grant me the knowledge of the true Christian, and that I may willingly despise myself; let me learn the lesson so incomprehensible to the mind of man, that I must die to myself by an abandonment that shall produce true humility.
    • François Fénelon, p. 334.
  • They that know God will be humble,
    They that know themselves cannot be proud.

    • John Flavel, p. 329.
  • The more we learn what humility is, the less we discover in ourselves.
    • La Combe, p. 329.
  • Humility is the grace which lies prostrate at God’s footstool, self-abasing and self-disparaging, amazed at God’s mercy, and abhorring its own vileness.
    • James Hamilton, p. 330.
  • Humility, what is it? It is a gracious gift of the Holy Ghost. It is the same disposition which the Psalmist called a ” broken heart,” and that consciousness of need which Jesus had in view when He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” So far as it has respect to God, it is that docility which is willing to learn what God teaches; that conscious penury, which is willing to accept whatever God proffers; that submission which is willing to do what God desires, and to endure whatever God deems needful.
    • James Hamilton, p. 331.
  • The reason why the publican returned from the Temple justified was that he had got that lowly and self-emptied mind to which the grace of God is welcome. It was not his standing afar off merely, nor his dejected eyes, nor his smiting on his breast, but his despair of himself and his hope in God’s mercy — “God be merciful to me a sinner.” And you will be justified, too, when, losing all confidence in the flesh, you learn to rejoice in Jesus Christ.
    • James Hamilton, p. 335.
  • The doctrines of grace humble man without degrading him and exalt him without inflating him.
    • Charles Hodge, p. 334.
  • Teach me. Lord, my true condition;
    Bring me childlike to Thy knee;
    Stripped of every low ambition,
    Willing to be led by Thee.

    • Henry Francis Lyte, p. 329.
  • Be sure that your soul is never so intensely alive as when in the deepest abnegation it waits hushed before God.
    • Alexander Maclaren, p. 329.
  • The wisely cultivated man, conscious how insignificant a drop he is in the vast stream of life, learns his limitation, and accepts events with modesty and equanimity.
    • Dr. Maudsley, p. 333.
  • True humility is a Christian grace and one of the fruits of the Spirit, originating in a deep consciousness of sin past and present, and leading us to discover our nothingness in the view of God, our insufficiency for any thing that is good, and prompting us, as we feel our infirmities, to strive after higher and yet higher attainments.
    • James McCosh, p. 329.
  • They who know most of God on earth or heaven know that they know little after all; but they know that they may know more and more of Him throughout eternal ages.
    • James McCosh.
  • Humility, that low, sweet root,
    From which all heavenly virtues shoot.

    • Thomas Moore, p. 328.
  • And so among the ruins of our pride, we grow to be loving children of the Most High.
    • William Mountford, p. 331.
  • O it is a happy thing to feel ourselves helpless and naught, for then the presence of God is felt to wrap us about so lovingly! Everlasting, infinite, almighty, — these are the words that strengthen us with speaking them.
    • William Mountford, p. 332.
  • I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself by now and then finding a smooth pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.
    • Sir Isaac Newton, p. 332.
  • The most of my sufferings and sorrows were occasioned by my own unwillingness to be nothing, which I am, and by struggling to be something.
    • Edward Payson, p. 335.
  • Humility is that simple, inner life of real greatness, which is indifferent to magnificence, and, surrounded by it all, lives far away in the distant country of a Father’s home, with the cross borne silently and self-sacrificingly in the heart of hearts.
    • Frederick William Robertson, p. 330.
  • I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility.
    • John Ruskin, p. 330.
  • My God, I ask not of Thee the leaves of external consequence; I will be content to continue simple, lowly, and plain, if Thou wilt only give me grace to serve Thee and my neighbor. Outward pomp withers like a flower, but inward worth lasts even after death.
    • Christian Scriver, p. 334.
  • Not as men of science, not as critics, not as philosophers, but as little children, shall we enter into the kingdom of heaven.
    • John Campbell Shairp, p. 332.
  • When thinking of God, when beholding His glorious perfections, when rejoicing in the perfection of His government, and in the excellence of His designs, the humble heart adopts the language of Job: ” I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee: wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
    • Gardiner Spring, p. 332.
  • Heaven’s gates are not so highly arched as king’s palaces; they that enter there must go upon their knees.
    • Daniel Webster, p. 330.
  • He saw a cottage with a double coach-house,
    A cottage of gentility!
    And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin
    Is pride that apes humility.

    • Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Devil’s Walk (original title, Devil’s Thoughts); written jointly by Coleridge and Southey.
  • I am well aware that I am the ‘umblest person going * * * let the other be where he may.
    • Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1849-1850), Volume I, Chapter XVI.
  • ‘Umble we are, ‘umble we have been, ‘umble we shall ever be.
    • Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1849-1850), Volume I, Chapter XVII.
  • Parvum parva decent.
    • Humble things become the humble.
    • Horace, Epistles, I, 7, 44.
  • God hath sworn to lift on high
    Who sinks himself by true humility.

    • John Keble, Miscellaneous Poems, At Hooker’s Tomb.
  • O be very sure
    That no man will learn anything at all,
    Unless he first will learn humility.

    • Owen Meredith (Lord Lytton), Vanini, line 327.
  • One may be humble out of pride.
    • Michel de Montaigne, Of Presumption, Book II, Chapter XVII.
  • Fairest and best adorned is she
    Whose clothing is humility.

    • James Montgomery, Humility.
  • Nearest the throne itself must be
    The footstool of humility.

    • James Montgomery, Humility.
  • Humility, that low, sweet root,
    From which all heavenly virtues shoot.

    • Thomas Moore, Loves of the AngelsThird Angel’s Story, Stanza 11.
  • I was not born for Courts or great affairs;
    I pay my debts, believe, and say my pray’rs.

    • Alexander Pope, Prologue to Satires, line 268.
  • Humility is a virtue all preach, none practise, and yet every body is content to hear.
    • John Selden, Table Talk: Being the Discourses (1786)
  • Humility is to make a right estimate of one’s self. It is no humility for a man to think less of himself than he ought, though it might rather puzzle him to do that.
    • Charles Spurgeon, Gleanings Among the SheavesHumility.
  • The higher a man is in grace, the lower he will be in his own esteem.
    • Charles Spurgeon, Gleanings Among the SheavesThe Right Estimate.
  • Da locum melioribus.
    • Give place to your betters.
    • Terence, Phormio, III. 2. 37.

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