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modesty quotes

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“Immodest words admit of no defense, for want of modesty is want of sense.” Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
“a fundamental quality in the female tradition . . . The proper name for the thing is modesty; but as we live in an age of prejudice and must not call things by their right names, we will yield to a more modern nomenclature and call it dignity.” G. K. Chesterton, What's Wrong with the World
“That which is really beautiful has no need of anything; not more than law, not more than truth, not more than benevolence or modesty.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.” Confucius, Analects
“There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long, even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of all power is modesty.” Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
“one reason I have always detested religion is its sly tendency to insinuate the idea that the universe is designed with 'you' in mind or, even worse, that there is a divine plan into which one fits whether one knows it or not. This kind of...” Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” William Shakespeare, As You Like It
“The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.” Confucius, Analects
“For this is hardest of all: to close the open hand out of love, and keep modest as a giver. Thus passed with the lonesome one months and years; his wisdom meanwhile increased, and caused him pain by its abundance.” Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
“You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know.” Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
“The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue.” Confucius, Analects
“people think I'm being modest, but it's quite the opposite: I'm thinking that I would do better today and so much better tomorrow.” Jean-Paul Sartre, The Words
“I am sufficiently proud of my knowing something to be modest about my not knowing all” Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
“How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of nature!” Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of the Four
“You have delighted us long enough. Let the other young ladies have time to exhibit.” Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

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foolishness words knowledge wisdom speech ambition ego love power beauty religion pain good humility nature stupidity virtue simplicity goodness language

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Confucius (3)
Christopher Hitchens (1)
William Shakespeare (1)
Oscar Wilde (1)
Arthur Conan Doyle (1)
Jane Austen (1)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1)
Marcus Aurelius (1)
Louisa May Alcott (1)
Jean-Paul Sartre (1)
G. K. Chesterton (1)
Benjamin Franklin (1)
Vladimir Nabokov (1)

Related sources

Analects (3)
As You Like It (1)
Hitch-22 (1)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1)
Meditations (1)
Pride and Prejudice (1)
Little Women (1)
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1)
Lolita (1)
The Sign of the Four (1)
The Words (1)
What's Wrong with the World (1)