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humility quotes

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“Few men speak humbly of humility, chastely of chastity, few doubtingly of scepticism.” Blaise Pascal, Pensées
“Nothing is more deceitful . . . than the appearance of humility.” Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.” Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
“My fellow Americans, I stand before you today, humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices born by our ancestors.” Barack Obama, Inaugural Address
“The pleasure of work is open to anyone who can develop some specialised skill, provided that he can get satisfaction from the exercise of his skill without demanding universal applause.” Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness
“I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.” Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
“The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.” Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History
“The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained to liberation from the self.” Albert Einstein, The world as I see it
“He does not know my other faults, else he would not have mentioned only these.” Epictetus, Enchiridion
“All we can know is that we know nothing.” Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” William Shakespeare, As You Like It
“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know.” Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi
“it is impossible for anyone to set out to learn what he thinks he already knows.” Epictetus, Discourses
“Any man who has met with success, if he will be frank with himself, must admit that there has been a big element of fortune in the success.” Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt; an Autobiography
“He was too simple to wonder when he had attained humility. But he knew he had attained it and he knew it was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true pride.” Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
“To learn one must be humble. But life is the great teacher.” James Joyce, Ulysses
“The true way to be deceived is to think oneself more knowing than others.” François de La Rochefoucauld, Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims
“A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.” C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
“He was a simple man who didn’t feel inferior about his lack of education and, even more amazing, showed no superiority because he had succeeded despite that lack.” Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
“If I turn mine eyes upon myself, I find myself a traitor with the rest;” William Shakespeare, Richard II
“If I were a medical man, I should prescribe a holiday to any patient who considered his work important.” Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness
“The last proceeding of reason is to recognise that there is an infinity of things which are beyond it.” Blaise Pascal, Pensées
“As long as your own personality is what you are bothering about you are not going to Him at all. The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether.” C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
“all the fruit I have reaped from my learning serves only to make me sensible how much I have to learn.” Michel de Montaigne, The Essays of Michel de Montaigne
“I speak to you as just another human being; as a simple monk.” 14th Dalai Lama, Nobel Lecture
“Now he was proving it again. Each time was a new time and he never thought about the past when he was doing it.” Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
“Ah, does not every true man feel that he is himself made higher by doing reverence to what is really above him?” Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History
“I am not concerned that I am not known, I seek to be worthy to be known.” Confucius, Analects
“Those who live alone do not speak too loud nor write too loud, for they fear the hollow echo” Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science
“Those truths which we know are very few in comparison with those which we do not know.” Galileo Galilei, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany
“But Nature, it seems, was at the bottom of the affair, and she gains her ends with dogs as well as with men, making us do as she likes, shoving and pulling us along her ways, however rough, all but killing us at times in getting her lessons...” John Muir, Stickeen
“Modern science has been a voyage into the unknown, with a lesson in humility waiting at every stop. Many passengers would rather have stayed home.” Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot
“To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?” C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
“The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
“A great man is always willing to be little.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, Compensation
“The higher we are placed, the more humbly should we walk.” Marcus Tullius Cicero, On Duties
“All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is specially true of humility.” C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Related topics

knowledge learning success self work blindness pride satisfaction fortune reason science truth education life happiness death wisdom God strength humanity

Related authors

C. S. Lewis (4)
Ernest Hemingway (3)
Bertrand Russell (2)
William Shakespeare (2)
Blaise Pascal (2)
Thomas Carlyle (2)
Epictetus (2)
Carl Sagan (1)
Maya Angelou (1)
Michel de Montaigne (1)
Galileo Galilei (1)
Confucius (1)
Marcus Tullius Cicero (1)
Jane Austen (1)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1)
Mark Twain (1)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1)
Leo Tolstoy (1)
Nelson Mandela (1)
J. D. Salinger (1)

Related sources

Mere Christianity (3)
The Old Man and the Sea (3)
The Conquest of Happiness (2)
Pensées (2)
On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History (2)
Analects (1)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1)
The world as I see it (1)
The Essays of Michel de Montaigne (1)
As You Like It (1)
Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany (1)
On Duties (1)
Long Walk to Freedom (1)
Pride and Prejudice (1)
The Catcher in the Rye (1)
Ulysses (1)
War and Peace (1)
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1)
Inaugural Address (1)
Richard II (1)