Almost any difficulty will move in the face of honesty. When I am honest I never feel stupid. And when I am honest I am automatically humble.--Hugh Prather (I Touch the Earth, The Earth Touches Me)
An arrogant tycoon once told his minister that there really was no need for him to pray ever again. After all, he had everything--he was young, rich, and good-looking. After hearing this, the minister said, "Well, you might want to pray for humility."--Anonymous (Bits & Pieces)
The chief executive who knows his strengths and weaknesses as a leader is likely to be far more effective than the one who remains blind to them. He also is on the road to humility - that priceless attitude of openness to life that can help a manager absorb mistakes, failures, or personal shortcomings.--John Adair
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.--St. Augustine
Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.--Saint Augustine
Everyone should be praised by the lips of his neighbor, and not by his own mouth. Everyone should be commended by the work he has done, not by what he wanted to do.--Mike Aquilina (Roots of the Faith)
Everything that we do affects our fate for better or for worse. The circumstances into which we are born also exert a tremendous influence; we come into the world with debits and credits for which we are not responsible already posted to our account: this teaches us humility.--Marguerite Yourcenar (With Open Eyes)
For the most part, I do the thing which my own nature prompts me to do. It is embarrassing to earn so much respect and love for it.--Albert Einstein
The greatest friend of truth is Time, her greatest enemy is Prejudice, and her constant companion is Humility.--Charles Caleb Colton
He who is humble is confident and wise. He who brags is insecure and lacking.--Lisa Edmondson
The humble, meek, merciful, and just are everywhere of one religion; and when death has taken off the mask they will know one another, though the diverse liveries they wear here make them strangers.--William Penn
Humble men and women do not have a low opinion of themselves; they have no opinion of themselves, because they so rarely think about themselves. The heart of humility lies in undivided attention to God and a de-selfing of our plans, projects, ambitions and soul. Humility is an indifference to our own well-being and a carefree disregard of the image we present. No longer concerned with appearing to be good, we can move freely in the mystery of who we really are, aware of the sovereignty of God and of our absolute insufficiency and yet moved by a spirit of radical self-acceptance without self-concern.--Brennan Manning
Humble people know their limitations: they know what they know, and they know what they do not know; they know what they can do or be, and they know what they cannot do or be.--John Adair (The Leadership of Muhammad)
Humility and knowledge in poor clothes excel pride and ignorance in costly attire.--William Penn
Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less.–-Ken Blanchard
Humility is a funny virtue because we love it in others but have a hard time practicing it ourselves. We like to be appreciated. We like to be right.--Thomas D. Williams (The Sacred Heart for Lent: Daily Meditations)
Humility is an elusive virtue. The more we pursue it - and the more we seem to acquire it - the more we take pride in our accomplishment, and we find ourselves back at square one.--Mike Aquilina (Love in the Little Things: Tales of Family Life)
Humility is attentive patience.--Simone Weil (First and Last Notebooks)
Humility is not weakness; it is the epitome of strength. Humility moves a person away from human, personal weakness and limitation into divine expression, strength and expansion.--Donald Curtis
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.--St Augustine (in "Humility" Spiritual Diary: Selected Sayings and Examples of Saints)
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, or poverty of spirit, is not a matter of thinking low thoughts about ourselves. It is not a matter of groveling in the dust. It is simply a matter of knowing ourselves as we really are. And when we see ourselves as we really are, we will see that we are poor.--John W. Miller (The Christian Way)
I asked God for strength that I might achieve. I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for health that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy. I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men. I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am, among all men, most richly blessed.--The Prayer of an Unknown Confederate Soldier
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
I want to be famous so I can be humble about being famous.
What good is my humility when I am stuck in this obscurity?--David Budbill ("Dilemma")
If I only had a little humility, I would be perfect.--Ted Turner
"If you ask, what is the first step in the way of truth? I answer humility," saith St. Austin. "If you ask, what is the second? I say humility. If you ask, what is the third? I answer the same - humility."--C. Sutton
In order to make spiritual progress, you must be patience like a tree and humble like a blade of grass.--Lakshmana
It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility.--Rachel Carson
It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.--Judith S. Martin
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
Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.--William Cowper ("Winter Walk at Noon" The Task)
Many people believe that humility is the opposite of pride, when, in fact, it is a point of equilibrium. The opposite of pride is actual 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
One does not please God with acts of worship. The only sacrifice that God values is the offering of lives lived in justice, mercy and humility.--John Shelby Spong (Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World)
The only way to meet affliction is to pass through it solemnly, slowly, with humility and faith, as the Israelites passed through the sea. Then its very wavs of misery will divide, and become to us a wall, on the right side and on the left, until the gulf narrows before our eyes and we land safe on the opposite sore.--Dinah Maria Mulock
Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.--Thomas Merton (No Man is an Island)
Pride slays thanksgiving, but an humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.--Henry Ward Beecher
A sarcastic person has a superiority complex that can be cured only by the honesty of humility.--Lawrence G. Lovasik (The Hidden Power of Kindness)
Something in human nature causes us to start slacking off at our moment of greatest accomplishment. As you become successful, you will need a great deal of self-discipline not to lose your sense of balance, humility, and commitment.--Ross Perot
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
Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.--John Wooden
A talented trumpeter who toots his own horn winds up playing to an empty theatre. A talented trumpeter who lets others recognize his talent winds up a legend.--Lisa Edmondson
Those who honor themselves will be humbled, but people who are humble themselves will be honored.--Luke 14:11 (God's Word Version)
True humility is contentment.--Henri Frederic Amiel (Journal)
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 (Arkansas Methodist)
True humility is not an abject, groveling, self-despising spirit--it is but a right estimate of ourselves as God sees us.--Tryon Edwards
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
Two of the most deadly roadblocks to peace are discouragement and pride. The best way to develop courage is to set a goal and achieve it, make a promise and keep it. The antidote for the poison of pride is humility.--Stephen R. Covey (First Things First)
Water is patient; it can stagnate and let itself be coated with scum if need be. It is as gentle as the morning's dew. It is non-confrontational, even respectful, in circumventing the rocks in a stream. It makes room for everything that enters its pools. It accommodates by assuming the shape of any vessel it is poured into. And it is humble, seeking always the lowest level. Yet along with - or rather because of these adaptive, yielding properties, it is ultimately irresistible; it carves canyons out of stone.--Huston Smith (introduction to Tao Te Ching)
When choosing a leader, we always kept in mind that humility provides clarity where arrogance makes a cloud. The last thing we wanted was to be lead by someone whose judgment and actions were clouded by arrogance.--The Lakota Way
The wise person possesses humility. He knows that his small island of knowledge is surrounded by a vast sea of the unknown.--Harold C. Chase