Best 2588 quotes in «humility quotes» category

Only secure people can serve. Insecure people are always worrying about how they appear to others. They fear exposure of their weaknesses and hide beneath layers of protective pride and pretensions. The more insecure you are, the more you will want people to serve you, and the more you will need their approval.

Only the man who thinks himself a fool is as wise as he thinks.

Only small men are incapable of seeing something greater than themselves

Only those who are grounded can truly learn; one has to walk before one can fly.

On Wednesday night, November 13, (1861), Lincoln went with Seward and Hay to McClellan's house. Told that the general was at a wedding, the three waited in the parlor for an hour. When McClellan arrived home, the porter told him the president was waiting, but McClellan passed by the parlor room and climbed the stairs to his private quarters. After another half hour, Lincoln again sent word that he was waiting, only to be informed that the general had gone to sleep. Young John Hay was enraged, " I wish here to record what I consider a portent of evil to come," he wrote in his diary, recounting what he considered an inexcusable "insolence of epaulettes," the first indicator "of the threatened supremacy of the military authorities." To Hay's surprise, Lincoln "seemed not to have noticed it specially, saying it was better at this time not to be making points of etiquette & personal dignity." He would hold McClellan's horse, he once said, if a victory could be achieved. Though Lincoln, the consummate pragmatist, did not express anger at McClellan's rebuff, his aides fumed at every instance of such arrogance. Lincoln's secretary, William Stoddard, described the infuriating delay when he accompanied Lincoln to McClellan's anteroom. "A minute passes, then another, and then another, and with every tick of the clock upon the mantel your blood warms nearer and nearer its boiling-point. Your face feels hot and your fingers tingle, as you look at the man, sitting so patiently over there...and you try to master your rebellious consciousness." As time went by, Lincoln visited the haughty general less frequently. If he wanted to talk with McClellan, he sent a summons for him to appear at the White House.

Our ability to forgive is a direct measure of our hope; Our patience is a measure of our humility; And most importantly: Our ability to listen with patience and understanding is the measure of our love; Because love is the measure of a man… or woman.

Other priests, he knew, found an intense pleasure in the raw, salty dialect of peasant conversation. They picked up pearls of wisdom and experience over a farmhouse table or a cup of wine in a workingman's kitchen. They talked with equal familiarity to the rough-tongued whores of Trastevere and the polished signori of Parioli. They enjoyed the ribald humor of the fish market as much as the wit of a Cardinal's dinner table. They were good priests too, and they did much good for their people, with a singular satisfaction to themselves.

Our audacity must be rooted in our humility.

Our description of what we are seeing ought to be begun with the word 'apparently'.

Our humility before God has no value, except that it prepares us to reveal the humility of Jesus to our fellow men.

Our humility [vinaya] should be such that offensive beings [aparadhak jiv], become non-offensive [un-apradhak].

Our kids need spiritual mentors, and if a new language and posture will lead them, then we better hit our knees, pray for humility, and beg God to help us raise disciples that love Him beyond our homes. We prioritize transformation over methodology, because our rules have a shelf life but loyalty to Jesus does not. Let's keep the baby and change the bathwater.

Our mind cannot be without fear and our head cannot be held high when we become slaves to materialistic values , always wondering why my car is not bigger and better than my neighbours car and in that process forget our human values like dignity, humility , integrity and humanity.

Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery. The surface of mystery is not smooth, any more than the planet is smooth; not even a single hydrogen atom is smooth, let alone a pine. Nor does it fit together; not even the chlorophyll and hemoglobin molecules are a perfect match, for, even after the atom of iron replaces the magnesium, long streamers of disparate atoms trail disjointedly from the rims of the molecule’s loops. Freedom cuts both ways. Mystery itself is as fringed and intricate at the shape of the air at times. Forays into mystery cut bays and fine fjords, but the forested mainland itself is implacable both in its bulk and in its most filigreed fringe of detail.

Our own path, whatever we aspire to, will in some ways be defined by the amount of nonsense we are willing to deal with. It doesn’t matter how talented you are, how great your connections are, how much money you have. When you want to do something - something big and important and meaningful - you will be subjected to treatment ranging from indifference to outright sabotage. Those who have subdued their ego understand that it doens’t degrade you when others treat you poorly; it degrades them.

Our understandable wish to preserve the planet must somehow be reduced to the scale of our competence - that is to wish to preserve all of its humble house - holds and neighbourhoods.

Our troubles begin the moment our teachers believe they know it all, and our learners think they are not teachable.

Our superintendence in instruction and discipline is the office of the Word, from whom we learn frugality and humility, and all that pertains to love of truth, love of humanity, and love of excellence. And so, in a word, being assimilated to God by participation in moral excellence, we must not retrograde into carelessness and sloth. But labor, and faint not.

Our wounds are the only thing humbling enough to break our attachment to our false self.

Out of humility I label not myself or others. All I can say is this; God is my Father. Jesus is my Savior. And the Holy Spirit dwells in me.

Out of the soil of humility grow blessings and honor.

Parents themselves should be humble so that children can observe humility at close quarters.

Part of what makes him (laid-back Tim Hudson)an ace is that he would never acknowledge that he is an ace.

Paulette had never been flush with self-confidence. People took that as humility, but humility isn’t painful and crippling. She hadn’t yet learned that humble and self-destructive aren’t the same thing at all. They’re not even on the same team. - From "The Gardens of Ailana" handbook for healers & mystics

Pat Conroy embraced his new hometown with the grateful passion of a refugee.

People tend to think that money makes them strong, but it's those that learn to survive without it, are truly the stronger.

Pedestals aren't safe...one wrong move and a nasty tumble is sure to follow. Humility is a great grounding tool.

People don’t care about this kind of stuff, ya know? We want self-improvement, not self-knowledge. We want change,” he motioned with his hands in a strange attempt to mock modern-day hipsters' version of change, “But not for any particular reason. We want to do good deeds but only if we can tell others about it. We want all sorts of ideals, not for their own sake, but rather for the sake of appearances. We don’t want knowledge; we want to show others we have knowledge.

People often think of humility as the act of saying 'I am not that great.' This is lack of confidence. True humility is looking at the amazing people throughout history and saying 'I am pretty great... but I can always be greater.

People often told him how humble he was, but they did not mean real humility, it was merely that he did not flaunt his membership in the wealthy club, did not exercise the rights it brought—to be rude, to be inconsiderate, to be greeted rather than to greet—and because so many others like him exercised those rights, his choices were interpreted as humility.

People who are humble about their own nature are moral realists. Moral realists are aware that we are all built from “crooked timber”— from Immanuel Kant’s famous line, “Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.

People who are ready to learn are those who will be the best to lead.

People who have fallacious objectives are like the barren soil. The flowers grow from soil which is composed of the right objectives.

Perfect understanding of the infinite requires limitless intellectual capacity; our undivided attention is better suited for humbler aspirations.

Perfect' - the most misattributed word in English language A 'perfect' thing can never be improved - at least by what the meaning implies. Why should anyone want to be perfect? Unfortunately, this happens to be my greatest flaw. Turning a relative idea into an absolute one. Seeking perfection in others - or should I say 'subconsciously seeking perfection in myself' and projecting a benchmark based in fantasy on others. Makes one come across as judgmental, intolerant, arrogant or impatient - in short, a platinum-class jerk. But you, my friend, are too kind to tell me. Or you'd rather bear for the moment and cuss me roundly when I'm gone. That's unfair to us both. If I have ever done this to you, I am sincerely sorry. Accept my profound apologies

People don't need to know how good you are. Just smile, just slay and just show.

People need to stand up for their wrongs, as they stand up for their rights.

People who are easily embarrassed – those who blush too often and too soon – usually end up retreating from excellence.

People who sneer at a half a loaf of bread have never been hungry." George Reedy

People who enroll themselves in the schools of pride, eventually graduate with and high degree of fall. Failure employs “prides” scholars. Get rusticated now!

People who have trouble questioning their own country often have trouble admitting fault in themselves, both of which come from insecurity and lack of humility.

People with disabilities are sometimes very humble and approachable, if you want a seasoned reputation, then behave like one of the handicaps.

Persuasion is a strong but subdued outrider.

Pity is unto the bird that takes refuge and stands on the tall tree with shallow roots to boast with their sweet melodies for they shall sing a harmonious dirge the day the strong storm will arrive. But the birds that shall build their nest on the tall tree deeply rooted in the soil shall smile and sing hallelujah when they see the storm coming from afar

Poetry empowers the simplest of lives to confront the most extreme sorrows with courage, and motivates the mightiest of offices to humbly heed lessons in compassion.

Position may separate the leader from the follower, but a title does not imply superiority.

Plimpton was a presence. He looked for ways in which he could make himself ridiculous. That made him a great storyteller.

Power without compassion is like a giant that blocks the sunlight.

Possibly, there was something to be said for the intellectual discipline of second-guessing what you thought was true.

Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from becoming too talkative, and especially from the unfortunate habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject and at every opportunity. Release me from the idea that I must straighten out other peoples' affairs. With my immense treasure of experience and wisdom, it seems a pity not to let everybody partake of it. But thou knowest, Lord, that in the end I will need a few friends. Keep me from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point. Grant me the patience to listen to the complaints of others; help me to endure them with charity. But seal my lips on my own aches and pains -- they increase with the increasing years and my inclination to recount them is also increasing. I will not ask thee for improved memory, only for a little more humility and less self-assurance when my own memory doesn't agree with that of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be wrong. Keep me reasonably gentle. I do not have the ambition to become a saint -- it is so hard to live with some of them -- but a harsh old person is one of the devil's masterpieces. Make me sympathetic without being sentimental, helpful but not bossy. Let me discover merits where I had not expected them, and talents in people whom I had not thought to possess any. And, Lord, give me the grace to tell them so. Amen