Quotations about Humility

Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all. ~William Temple


Swallow your pride occasionally, it's non-fattening! ~Author Unknown


It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others. ~Andrew J. Holmes, Wisdom in Small Doses


What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself. ~Abraham Lincoln


A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle. ~Benjamin Franklin


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


It wasn't until quite late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say "I don't know!" ~Somerset Maugham


Humility is to make a right estimate of one's self. ~Charles Haddon Spurgeon


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


There are two kinds of egotists: Those who admit it, and the rest of us. ~Laurence J. Peter


Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are. ~Malcolm S. Forbes


There are a billion people in China. It's not easy to be an individual in a crowd of more than a billion people. Think of it. More than a BILLION people. That means even if you're a one-in-a-million type of guy, there are still a thousand guys exactly like you. ~A. Whitney Brown, The Big Picture


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


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


It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles. ~Niccolo Machiavelli


True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes. ~Edward Frederick Halifax


Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity. ~Frank Leahy, Look, 10 January 1955


It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help. ~Author Unknown


It is always the secure who are humble. ~Gilbert Keith Chesterton


In all that surrounds him the egotist sees only the frame of his own portrait. ~J. Petit-Senn


Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple. ~Barry Switzer


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


To have a thing is little, if you're not allowed to show it, to know a thing, is nothing unless others know you know it. ~Charles Neaves


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


Blushing is the color of virtue. ~Diogenes


Glory is largely a theatrical concept. There is no striving for glory without a vivid awareness of an audience. ~Eric Hoffer, The True Believer, 1951


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


Don't look for more honor than your learning merits. ~Jewish Proverb


With people of only moderate ability modesty is mere honesty; but with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy. ~Arthur Schopenhauer


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


We would rather speak ill of ourselves than not talk about ourselves at all. ~François Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Maxims


Wear your learning like your watch, in a private pocket; and do not pull it out, and strike it, merely to show that you have one. ~Lord Chesterfield


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


A man may do an immense deal of good, if he does not care who gets the credit for it. ~Father Strickland, 1863 (Thanks, Garson O'Toole!)


Lord, where we are wrong, make us willing to change; where we are right, make us easy to live with. ~Peter Marshall


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


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


Any party which takes credit for the rain must not be surprised if its opponents blame it for the drought. ~Dwight Morrow


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


He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow. ~George Eliot, Adam Bede, 1859


I can't tell you if genius is hereditary, because heaven has granted me no offspring. ~James McNeill Whistler


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


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


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


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


Modesty: The art of encouraging people to find out for themselves how wonderful you are. ~Source Unknown


Flattery is all right so long as you don't inhale. ~Adlai Stevenson