Humility Quotes

One can expect the human race to continue attempting systems just within or just beyond our reach; and software systems are perhaps the most intricate and complex of man's handiworks. The management of this complex craft will demand our best use of new languages and systems, our best adaptation of proven engineering management methods, liberal doses of common sense, and a God-given humility to recognize our fallibility and limitations. ~ Fred Brooks

It is possible to be confident and still practice humility. Be confident in the success of the teachable, sure in the power & grace of That which supports you. ~ Russell Kyle

Whether we speak of the death to self or a sinking down in humility and meekness before God or faith in the Lamb of God, it all means one thing - a deliverance from self to find our liberty and our blessedness in the living sacrifice of ourselves for all around us. THE END ~ Andrew Murray

But again the eternal question - what need is there of my humility? Can't I simply be devoured without being expected to praise what devours me? ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Let it be granted, that according to the letter of the Gita it is possible to say that warfare is consistent with renunciation of fruit. But after forty years' unremitting endeavour fully to enforce the teaching of the Gita in my own life, I have in all humility felt that perfect renunciation is impossible without perfect observance of ahimsa in every shape and form. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Confidence is good, but confidence with humility is far better. ~ Debasish Mridha

What you're doing is putting into professional play the way that you relate to other people, the way that you analyze and relate to a written text, the way that you would persuade anybody to do anything. It has to do with listening, with humility and a sense of yourself. ~ Trevor Nunn

You need humility to say 'I might be wrong.' ~ Seth Klarman

Courage uncovers strength, grace reveals beauty, vulnerability expresses humility, inner peace reflects contentment ~ Millen Livis

A lack of empathy is the biggest crime of all. ~ A.S.L.

If you can't let go of the power you possess, if you can't surrender it gracefully when it is time to do so, you will most likely abuse it. ~ Donald Cozzens

There is one thing you must always remember about yourself; always be yourself, with courage and humility, no matter what! ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Humility is always a good thing. It's always a good thing to be humbled by circumstances so you can then come from a sincere place to try to deal with them. ~ Michael J. Fox

Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful. ~ Ann Landers

I've striven my whole life for humility, but if I'd ever achieved it, I'd probably be pretty damn proud of that. ~ Benjamin Franklin

His lifetime was less than a fraction of a second in infinity. Or maybe he did not even exist; maybe human beings, the planets, everything in Creation were a dream ... an illusion. He smiled with humility when he remembered ... ~ Isabel Allende

Music can act upon our senses to produce or induce feelings of reverence, humility, fervor, assurance, or other feelings attuned to the spirit of worship. ~ Spencer W. Kimball

Humility is a priceless virtue; however, it takes a lot of self-emptying to cultivate it. ~ Michael Ugwu Eneja

Care not who is richer or more learned than thou, if none be more generous and loving. ~ John Lancaster Spalding

To toughen up, is to calm down. ~ Doug Melvin

We in the church have humility and contrition to offer the world, not a formula for success. Almost alone in our success-oriented society, we admit that we have failed, are failing, and always will fail. ~ Philip Yancey

Humility is a virtue that is enjoined upon us. So far as the artist is concerned, with good reason; indeed, when he compares what he has done with what he wanted to do, when he compares his disappointing efforts with the great masterpieces of the world, he finds it the easiest of virtues to practice. Unless he is humble he cannot hope to improve. Self-satisfaction is fatal to him. The strange thing is that we are embarrassed by humility in others. We are ill at ease when they humble themselves before us. I don't know why this should be unless it is that there is something servile in it which offends our sense of human dignity. When I was engaging two coloured maids to look after me the overseer of the plantation who produced them, as a final recommendation, said: 'They're good niggers, they're humble.' Sometimes when one of them hides her face with her fingers to speak to me or with a little nervous giggle asks if she can have something I've thrown away, I'm inclined to cry: 'For heaven's sake don't be so humble.'
Or is it that humility in others forces upon us the consciousness of our own unworthiness? ~ W. Somerset Maugham

Rather than seeing ourselves as insignificant specks in the immensity of the cosmos, we can consider that immensity an indicator of our worth. It seems the Creator invested a great deal-a universe of 50 billion trillion stars, plus a hundred times more matter, all fine-tuned to mind-boggling precision-for us. If not for the strength and abundance of evidence in support of that notion, it would seem the height of arrogance. Humility demands that we take a deeper and wider look at that evidence. ~ Hugh Ross

The Lord has put more hardships atop the shoulders of my neighbors - more than I can even fathom coping with. I will strive to find a way to turn pity into admiration, for what use is it to send pity back at the world. Admiration and awe are much more helpful, especially when I find myself feeling like a victim for being stuck in traffic or losing my favorite sweater. Perspective is a blessing. ~ Erica Goros

The Lord sometimes allows people who are devoted to Him to fall into such dreadful vices; and this is in order to prevent them from falling into a still greater sin-pride. Your temptation will pass and you will spend the remaining days of your life in humility. Only do not forget your sin. ~ Seraphim Of Sarov

What a vicious circle we can put ourselves in: we have come to accept the notion of "fix me first," when part of the essential fixing we all need is to be compassionately involved with others. ~ Bo Lozoff

Notwithstanding much cant and hypocrisy - chaff which I find it difficult to separate from my wheat, but for which I am as sorry as any man - I will breathe freely and stretch myself in this respect, it is such a relief to both the moral and physical system; and I am resolved that I will not through humility become the devil's attorney. I will endeavor to speak a good word for the truth. ~ Henry David Thoreau

For my part I am persuaded the more light we have, the more we see our own sinfulness: the nearer we get to heaven, the more we are clothed with humility. In every age of the Church you will find it true, if you will study biographies, that the most eminent saints - men like Bradford, Rutherford, and McCheyne - have always been the humblest men. On ~ J.C. Ryle

What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism. ~ Albert Einstein

If our life is not a course of humility, self-denial, renunciation of the world, poverty of spirit, and heavenly affection, we do not live the lives of Christians. ~ William Law

In passing however I must say of one thing that has pressed upon me lately and encreased my Humility and capability of submission and that is this truth - Men of Genius are great as certain ethereal Chemicals operating on the Mass of neutral intellect - but they have not any individuality, any determined Character - I would call the top and head of those who have a proper self Men of Power. ~ John Keats

Pride makes us artificial; humility makes us real ~ Thomas Merton

From compassion springs humility. The ego is verily a gateway to hell. The person who is egoistic is far from being religious. ~ Dada Vaswani

Humility is the virtue that requires the greatest amount of effort. ~ Rose Philippine Duchesne

In ethics, there is a humility; moralists are usually righteous. ~ John Berger

Krupa (divine grace) means 'every time sincere'. Without becoming suitable for naimitik krupa (apparent grace), one cannot attain the nischay (Realization that I am Pure Soul). Even in the Kramic (step by step) path, there is naimitk krupa. 'We' shower down special grace. 'Our' grace descends upon one due to ultimate humility. Only thing required is 'complete sincerity'. ~ Dada Bhagwan

Prayer is easier than we think. we want to think it is too hard or too high and holy for us, because that gives us an excuse for not doing it. This is false humility. We can all do it, even the most sinful, shallow, silly, and stupid of us. ~ Peter Kreeft

If you think someone is humble, never tell them so. You will unknowingly rob them of the very thing you admire. ~ Christy Hall

We all know that the 'divine glory of the ego' is socially a great nuisance; we all do actually value our friends for modesty, freshness, and simplicity of heart. Whatever may be the reason, we all do warmly respect humility in other people. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

Men seek a great deal, but fatally close, albeit very different, is one's pride in proving oneself right with one's zeal for finding the truth. ~ Criss Jami

"The person next to me meditates better than I do. They're purer." - This is the ego feeling sorry for itself. ~ Frederick Lenz

We love those people who give with humility, or who accept with ease. ~ Freya Stark

Most of us retain enough of the theological attitude to think that we are little gods. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

We need to approach the Bible each day with a spirit of deep humility, recognizing that our understanding of spiritual truth is at best incomplete and to some extent inaccurate ... we should approach the Scriptures in humility and expect the Spirit to humble us even further as we continue being taught by Him from His Word. ~ Jerry Bridges

I had a brief experience in the food industry. I was a bus boy in a Mexican restaurant in Arizona, scraping re-fried beans off people's plates. It teaches you a bit of humility and the importance of a good deodorant. ~ Wentworth Miller

A touch less ego and dash more humility will improve the quality of anything you turn your hand to. ~ Rasheed Ogunlaru

Humbleness is always grace; always dignity ~ James Russell Lowell

The reason why rivers and seas are able to be lords over a hundred mountain streams, is that they know how to keep below them. That is why they are able to reign over all the mountain streams. ~ Laozi

The act of waitressing is a solace, it's got everything you could ask for - confusion, panic, humility, and food. ~ Eve Babitz

Either appear as you are
Or be as you appear
Be like the sun in compassion and mercy
Be like the light in covering others' shame
Be like a stream in generosity and beneficence
Be like earth in modesty and humility
Be like the sea in tolerance
Be like death in irritability and anger
Either appear as you are
Or be as you appear
The Dervish Gate ~ Ahmet Umit

Find some humility, or it will find you. ~ Jason Shinder

It is only the mind which does not belong that can be alone. And aloneness is not something to be cultivated. You see this? When you see all this, you are out, and no governor or president is going to invite you to dinner. Out of that aloneness there is humility. It is this aloneness that knows love - not power. The ambitious man, religious or ordinary, will never know what love is. So, if one sees all this, then one has this quality of total living and therefore total action. This comes through self-knowledge. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

Essence of humility is unity. ~ Radhanath Swami

There is much room for humility when it comes to evangelism. We need to acknowledge that God is sovereign and can do as he wills to bring people to himself. There is no formula that dictates how God must work in evangelism. And though we may disagree with the evangelistic practices of individuals, ministries, or churches, we must also recognize that when people develop good-hearted commitments to evangelism, God can produce true fruit. I, for one, will take people practicing evangelism as best they can over those who forgo evangelism until they have the perfect practice. ~ J. Mack Stiles

We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. I have heard others, and I have heard myself, recounting cruelties and falsehoods committed in boyhood as if they were no concern of the present speaker's, and even with laughter. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin. The guilt is washed out not by time but by repentance and the blood of Christ: if we have repented these early sins we should remember the price of our forgiveness and be humble. ~ C.S. Lewis

After the original rapture of conversion had settled in, (Bob) Dylan backed away from his obviously Christian lyrics and returned to his more metaphorical use of language. ~ Ron Jacobs

A servant who serves excellently from his whole heart with due courage and humility is never a servant, but a master of his work! ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

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

The reason why you see no real mortification or self-denial, no eminent charity, no profound humility, no heavenly affection, no true contempt of the world, no Christian meekness, no sincere zeal, no eminent piety in the common lives of Christians, is this, because they do not so much as intend to be exact and exemplary in these virtues. ~ William Law

It is doubt that makes faith precious,
deciet that makes honesty precious,
grief that makes happiness precious,
error that makes truth precious,
fear that makes love precious,
pride that makes humility precious,
shame that makes honor precious,
anger that makes peace precious,
greed that makes contentment precious,
despair that makes hope precious,
cruelty that makes kindness precious,
disloyalty that makes commitment precious,
lawlessness that makes justice precious,
vengance that makes forgiveness precious,
frustration that makes patience precious,
hatred that makes tolerance precious,
disbelief that makes trust precious,
uncertainty that makes confidence precious,
skepticism that makes conviction precious,
insolence that makes courtesy precious,
impoliteness that makes manners precious,
imprudence that makes civility precious,
contempt that esteem precious,
meanness that makes hospitality precious,
stinginess that makes generosity precious,
roughness that makes gentleness precious,
negligence that makes discipline precious,
and confusion that makes order precious. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

Sorrow is humbling. I want my pain to be fabulous. I don't need my pain to be worse than anyone else's; I just want it to be strangely, uniquely mine. Art to someone else's breakdown.
- Thea Hillman, "Dear Kath After"
from the anthology Pills, Thrills, Chills, and Heartache ~ Clint Catalyst

When we see the faults of others, we are to forgive and forbear in humility. ~ James MacDonald

-jeez, these guys, with their on-again, off-again rela­tionships, lutgen said;
-Yeah, Dave said: now you see them, now you see them once more;
-They're virtual insects!, Jurgen said;
-Virtually innumerable, said Dave;
-I wonder, though, if we haven't got it wrong, Jurgen said: I mean, I wonder if maybe these guys' natural condition isn't to be lit up-if their ground state isn't actually when they're glowing;
-Hm, said Dave: so what they're actually doing is turning off their lights­
-Right: momentarily going under;
-Flashing darkness­
-Projecting their inner voids­
-Their repeating, periodic depressions ...
-So then, I suppose, we should really call them douse bugs---;.
-Exactly...
-Or nature's faders---;.
-Flying extinguishers­
-Buzzing snuffers-!
-Or maybe­
-Or maybe, despite what it looks like, maybe they really are glowing constantly, Jurgen said: but, through some malign unknown mechanism, their everlasting light is peri­odically swallowed up by un-understood atmospheric forces;
-So then they're being occluded­
-Rudely occluded­
-Denied their God-given right to shine ...
-So that, I suppose, would make them-o horror-victims­
-Yeah: victims of predatory darkness­
-Of uncontrollable flares of night;
-So it isn't bioluminescence, but eco-eclipsis­
-Exactly: ambient effacement­
-Nature's station-identification­
-Ongoing lessons in humility ...
Evan Dara

The joy he brings to the millions of his countrymen, the grace with which he handles all the adulation and the expectations and his innate humility - all make for a one-in-a-billion individual. ~ Glenn McGrath

Truth without humility would be an arrogant caricature. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

There is strength in humility and weakness in pride. ~ N. Eldon Tanner

Arrogance repels the Lord; humility attracts the Lord. ~ Radhanath Swami

We have no need to learn to think much of ourselves, to care for ourselves, to consider our own needs, wants, and desires. We already do that far too much. The problem is getting us to think of others, to have a lowliness of mind that springs from humility and love. ~ Nancy Wilson

It's an universal law
intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education. An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility. ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The proud man, then, is an extreme in respect of the greatness of his claims, but a mean in respect of the rightness of them; for he claims what is accordance with his merits, while the others go to excess or fall short. ~ Aristotle.

The world was here before you,
and will exist after you.
You are not the center of the universe,
nor are you its circumference. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

Suffering is one of life's great teachers. ~ Bryant McGill

May it please Christ our Lord to grant us true humility and abnegation of will and judgment, so that we may deserve to begin to be His disciples. ~ Saint Ignatius

Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false. ~ Bertrand Russell

The importance of humility. We need the humility to know that truth can be ephemeral, that this can be but one version of the truth. ~ Ken Auletta

Humility is a natural symptom of those who love God. ~ Radhanath Swami

The Bible is the means through which we are introduced to Jesus and invited to follow Him in the life of humility and service. ~ Richard Foster

The problem with property is that it takes so much of your time. ~ Willem De Kooning

Perhaps it's human nature: We want to shield our children from pain, and what we get instead is life and heartache and lessons that bring us to our knees. Sooner or later we are handed the brute, necessary curriculum of surrender, we have no choice, then but to bow our heads and learn. We struggle to accept that our children's destinies are not ours to write, their battles not ours to fight, their bruises not ours to bear, nor their victories ours to take credit for. We learn humility and how to ask for help. We learn to let go even when every fiber of our being yearns to hold on even tighter. ~ Katrina Kenison

I understood, by dint of digging into my memories, that modesty helped me to shine, humility helped me to triumph and virtue to oppress. ~ Albert Camus

Why is it that self-confidence is so often cocky and self-assured so often selfish? Neither has to be true. Having confidence doesn't require being superior over another and being self-assured doesn't require taking advantage of another. ~ Charles F. Glassman

Prayer makes a godly man, and puts within him "the mind of Christ," the mind of humility, of self-surrender, of service, of pity, and of prayer. If we really pray, we will become more like God, or else we will quit praying. ~ Edward McKendree Bounds

One is not necessarily made self-centered because he is foolish, but one is very often made foolish because he is self-centered. ~ Criss Jami

If you want God's grace, all you need is need, all you need is nothing. But that kind of spiritual humility is hard to muster. We come to God saying, "Look at all I've done," or maybe "Look at all I've suffered." God, however, wants us to look to him - to just wash. ~ Timothy Keller

It is only people who are lacking, or bad, or inferior, who have to be good at things. You have always been full and perfect, so you had nothing to make up for. ~ T.H. White

Exposing their own humility and vulnerability is one of the most difficult challenges for white antiracist, even after achieving an autonomous white racial identity. ~ Eileen O'Brien

We have less reason to be surprised or offended when we find others differ from us in opinions because we very often differ from ourselves. ~ Samuel Johnson

We saw men haying far off in the meadow, their heads waving like the grass which they cut. In the distance the wind seemed to bend all alike. ~ Henry David Thoreau

The deeper we grow in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the poorer we become - the more we realize that everything in life is a gift. The tenor of our lives becomes one of humble and joyful thanksgiving. Awareness of our poverty and ineptitude causes us to rejoice in the gift of being called out of darkness into wondrous light and translated into the kingdom of God's beloved Son. ~ Brennan Manning

What you need is a fundamental humility - the belief that you can learn from anyone. ~ Clayton Christensen

To express your love for the universe, be like a cloud to dwell in the high altitudes, and never forget to transform yourself into the water of humility. ~ Debasish Mridha

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

Disasters teach us humility. ~ Anselm Of Canterbury

I don't like the idea of something where you have to depend upon the integrity of the man and not the integrity of the institution. ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

Humility Makes The Heart Soft And That's When The Seed Of Love Grows Luxuriantly". ~ Venugopal Acharya

He had the ruthlessness of uninterrupted success. ~ Barbara W. Tuchman

Often, your mentors are already in your life; you just haven't yet found a way to learn from them. ~ Eric Greitens

Kundalini is generated through cultivating humility, purity, through meditation, selfless giving, and by studying with an advanced teacher on a personal level. ~ Frederick Lenz

When one takes into account also His reiterated assertions about His Divinity - such as asking us to love Him above parents, to believe in Him even in the face of persecution, to be ready to sacrifice our bodies in order to save our souls in union with Him - to call Him just a good man ignores the facts. No man is good unless he is humble; and humility is a recognition of truth concerning oneself. A man who thinks he is greater than he actually is is not humble, but a vain and boastful fool. How can any man claim prerogatives over conscience, and over history, and over society and the world and still claim he is 'meek and humble of heart'? But if He is God as well as man, His language falls into place and everything that He says is intelligible. But if He is not what He claimed to be, then some of His most precious sayings are nothing but bombastic outburts of self-adulation that breathe rather the spirit of Lucifer than the spirit of a good man. What avails Him to proclam the law of self-renouncement, if He Himself renounces truth to call Himself God? Even His sacrifice on the Cross becomes a suspect and dated thing, when it goes hand in hand with delusions of grandeur and infernal conceit. He could not be called even a sincere teacher, for no sincere teacher would allow anyone to construe his claims to share the rank and the name of the Great God in heaven. ~ Fulton J. Sheen

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