humility

1.

A man who is at the top is a man who has the habit of getting to the bottom.

- Rogers, Joseph E.

2.

The humble are in danger when those in power disagree.

- Phaedrus

3.

Nothing, nothing can be a substitute for purity and virtue. Man will always try to find substitutes for it. He will try to find a substitute in superstition, in forms and ceremonies, in voluntary humility and worship of angels, in using vain repetitions, and fancying he will be heard for his much speaking; he will try to find a substitute in intellect, and the worship of intellect and art and poetry, . . . but let no man lay that flattering unction to his soul.

- Sermons on David. 1866.

4.

Humility is no substitute for a good personality.

- Fran Lebowitz

5.

If thou desire the love of God and man, be humble, for the proud heart, as it loves none but itself, is beloved of none but itself. Humility enforces where neither virtue, nor strength, nor reason can prevail.

- Francis Quarles

6.

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

- Weil, Simone

7.

Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.

- Francis of Assisi, St.

8.

I have often wished I had time to cultivate modesty... But I am too busy thinking about myself.

- Edith Sitwell

9.

In peace there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility.

- William Shakespeare

10.

I confess that altruistic and cynically selfish talk seem to me about equally unreal. With all humility, I think whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, infinitely more important than the vain attempt to love one's neighbor as one's self. If you want to hit a bird on the wing you must have all your will in focus, you must not be thinking about yourself, and equally, you must not be thinking about your neighbor; you must be living with your eye on that bird. Every achievement is a bird on the wing.

- Holmes Jr., Oliver Wendell

11.

When you are as great as I am it is hard to be humble.

- Ali, Muhammad

12.

With disadvantages enough to bring him to humility, a Scotsman is one of the proudest things alive.

- Goldsmith, Oliver

13.

Early in life, I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose honest arrogance and have seen no occasions to change.

- Wright, Frank Lloyd

14.

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

- Bonder, Rabino Nilton

15.

The Churches must learn humility as well as teach it.

- George Bernard Shaw

16.

The eternal laws of God's providence are still at work, though we may choose to forget them, and the Judge who administers them is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, even Jesus Christ the Lord, the Everlasting Rock, on which all morality and all society is founded. Whosoever shall fall on that Rock, in repentance and humility, shall indeed be broken, but of him it is written, "A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise."

- Discipline and other Sermons. 1866.

17.

Good Friday, Easter Day, and Ascension, are set as great lights in the firmament of the spiritual year;--to remind us that we are not animals born to do what we like, and fulfil the simple lusts of the flesh--but that we are rational moral beings, members of Christ, children of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven, and that, therefore, like Christ, we must die in order to live, stoop in order to conquer. They remind us that honour must grow out of humility; that freedom must grow out of discipline; that sure conquest must be born of heavy struggles; righteous joy out of righteous sorrow; pure laughter out of pure tears; true strength out of the true knowledge of our own weakness; sound peace of mind out of sound contrition.

- All Saints' Day Sermons. 1871.

18.

UGLINESS, n. A gift of the gods to certain women, entailing virtue without humility.

- Ambrose Bierce

19.

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

20.

You cultivate the essential virtues: high purpose, intelligence, decency, humility, fear of the Lord, and the passion for freedom.

- William F. Buckley, Jr.