Wise Words on Humbleness

"The Most Dangerous Place In Existence"
There is no man so unsafe as he that is...too Proud to be told Truth, or have his Errors taken Notice of.
Samuel Butler

"A Child's Heart, But A Grown-Up's Head"
He wants a child's heart, but a grown-up's head. He wants us to be simple, single-minded, affectionate, and teachable, as good children are; but He also wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and in first-class fighting trim.
C.S. Lewis

"Where's The Glory?"
The glory's naught, the deed is all.
Goethe

"Modesty Defined"
[Modesty is] the art of encouraging people to find out for themselves how wonderful you are.
Anonymous

"Credit Where Credit Is Due"
As he succeeds,
He takes no credit
And just because he does not take it,
Credit never leaves him.
Lao-Tzu

"Louder Than Words"
Neither praise, nor dispraise thyself, thy Actions will do it enough.
Thomas Fuller

“Yearn to Understand”
Yearn to understand first and be understood second
Beca Lewis Allen

"The Charm Of Humility"
Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call "humble" nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.
C.S. Lewis

"Introspection"
When thou seest any doing ill, presently ask thyself, 'Have not I done the like, or as bad'?
Thomas Fuller

"Praiseworthy"
Better merit without praise than praise without merit.
Saying

"Virtue Shows Itself"
...true courage...shows itself in gentleness...true wisdom...shows itself by simplicity...true power...shows itself by modesty.
Charles Kingsley

"Thinking Like A Servant"
To be a servant requires a mental sift, a change in your attitudes. God is always more interested in why we do something than in what we do. Attitudes count more than achievements...

We can measure our servant’s heart by how we respond when others treat us like servants. How do you react when you’re taken for granted, bossed around, or treated as an inferior? …if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life...

They don’t compare, criticize, or compete with other servants or ministries. They’re too busy doing the work God has given them…We’re all on the same team; our goal is to make God look good, not ourselves…There’s no place for petty jealousy between servants. When you’re busy serving, you don’t have time to be critical. Any time spent criticizing others is time that could be spent ministering. It’s not our job to evaluate the Master’s other servants. It is also not our job to defend ourselves against criticism….Your service to Christ is never wasted regardless of what others say...

Because they remember they are loved…servants don’t have to prove their worth. They willingly accept jobs that insecure people would consider ‘beneath’ them…Jesus knew who He was, so the task [of washing the disciples’ feet] didn’t threaten His self-image.
Rick Warren

"Invisible Walls" 

The victim of mind-manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him, the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free.
Aldous Huxley

"Knowledge Is A Vehicle , Not A Badge"
Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered...As the author of the Theologia Germanica says, we may come to love knowledge– our knowing– more than the thing known: to delight not in the exercise of our talents but in the fact that they are ours, or even in the reputation they bring us. Every success in the scholar’s life increases this danger. If it [arrogance] becomes irresistible, he must give up his scholarly work. The time for plucking out the right eye has arrived.
C.S. Lewis

"Get Over Yourself"
The first and best victory is to conquer self.
Plato

"Poisonous Antidote"
To be proud of virtue, is to poison yourself with the Antidote.
Benjamin Franklin

"Spoken of Abraham Lincoln"
While an eminent man wins our admiration through his great qualities, he can hold our love only from his human weaknesses, that make him one of ourselves.
Donn Piatt

"The Foundation of Virtue"
Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues; hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.
St. Augustine

"Green Monster"
When a proud Man hears another praised, he thinks himself injured.
Thomas Fuller

"Living For An Audience of One: What Makes The Servant's Heart Tick"
The world defines greatness in terms of power, possessions, prestige, and position…God determines your greatness by how many people you serve not how many people serve you...

Real servants do what’s needed, even when it’s inconvenient. Servants see interruptions as divine appointments for ministry and are happy for the opportunity to practice serving...

Servants are always on the lookout for ways to help others. We miss many occasions for serving because we lack sensitivity and spontaneity. Great opportunities to serve never last long. They pass quickly, sometimes never to return again. You may only get one chance to serve that person, so take advantage of the moment...

…before attempting the extraordinary, try serving in ordinary ways…The size of the task is irrelevant. The only issue is, does it need to be done?… Jesus specialized in menial tasks that everyone else tried to avoid: washing feet, helping children, fixing breakfast, and serving lepers. Nothing was beneath Him, because He came to serve. It wasn’t in spite of His greatness that He did these things, but because of it…

...Servants finish their tasks, fulfill their responsibilities, keep their promises, and complete their commitments. They don’t leave a job half undone, and they don’t quit when they get discouraged. They are trustworthy and dependable...
Self-promotion and servant-hood don’t mix. Real servants don’t serve for the approval or applause of others. They live for an audience of One. You won’t find many real servants in the limelight; in fact, they avoid it when possible. They are content with quietly serving in the shadows.
Rick Warren

"Stand Corrected"
Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love the truth.
Joseph Joubert

"Pride: The Chief Cause of Misery"
...it is through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind...Pride is the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began...For Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense...
C.S. Lewis

"Narcissism"
He that falls in love with himself, will have no rivals
Ben Franklin

"Be Filled Instead With The Spirit"
None so empty as those who are Full of themselves.

"Churchill And Emerson On Criticism"
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted [Ralph Waldo Emerson]...So long as I am acting from duty and conviction, I am indifferent to taunts and jeers. I think they will probably do me more good than harm. [Winston Churchill]
Benjamin Whichcote

"Looking Beyond Ourselves"
We should, I believe, distrust states of mind which turn our attention upon ourselves. Even at our sins we should look no longer than is necessary to know and to repent them; and our virtues or progress (if any) are certainly dangerous objects of contemplation. When the sun is vertically above a man he casts no shadow: similarly when we have come to the Divine meridian our spiritual shadow (that is, our consciousness of self) will vanish. One will thus in a sense be almost nothing: a room to be filled by God and our blessed fellow creatures, who in their turn are rooms we help to fill.
C.S. Lewis

"Blinded By The Light"
To be proud of Knowledge, is to be blind with Light.
Benjamin Franklin

"On The Shoulders of Giants"
If I have been able to see farther than others, it was because I stood on the shoulders of giants.
Issac Newton

"And He Shall Lift You Up"
My lowliness is my loftiness, my loftiness my lowliness.
Hillel

"The Superior"
The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
Confucius

"Read It, Nebuchadnezzar"
Man is...strange...he doesn't like to read the handwriting on the wall until his back is up against it.
Adlai E. Stevenson

"The Wise Man Knows"
The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.
William Shakespeare

"That's A Cinch"
In a calm sea every man is a pilot
John Ray

"Weakness Whispered"
When a man speaks of his strength, he whispers his weakness.
John M. Shanahan

"The Painful Truth"
The sting of a reproach is the truth in it.
Benjamin Franklin

"Voluntary Surrender"
All creatures of course live from God in the sense that He made them and at every moment maintains them in existence. But there is a further and higher kind of "life from God" which can be given only to a creature who voluntarily surrenders himself to it.
C.S. Lewis

"Shoveling For The Right Reasons"
...shoveling is an activity not without its dangers. It starts out innocently enough, but an hour of solitude with a shovel is perfect campaigning weather for those who have an interest in your undoing. The pure pleasure of pleasing Josephine can be corrupted in a second into the not so pure pleasure of regarding yourself pleasing Josephine. The left hand should not know what the right hand is doing (Matthew 6:3), so this is to be resisted...When engaged in the dangerous act of snow removal, I find that you can’t go wrong repeating, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Jesus!” with every scoop. I did a lot of that, with joy—for the health in my limbs; for my good, strong back; for the special slant of sun at 3 o’clock in winter. There is nothing like it for deflecting the arrows of the Enemy. Because you never can be too careful when shoveling out Josephine.
Andree Seu

"Worth It?"
What Price Glory?
Maxwell Anderson

"Chief Seats"
It is not smart to slip into your conversation little boasts about yourself—the college you went to, the degrees you earned, the plum positions you held. First of all, it sounds proud and diminishes you ever so slightly in the eyes of the other person. Secondly, it sets a trap for your own feet, because eventually (think about it), if you develop a relationship with the person you are speaking to, he or she will find out your true measure. If you have presented yourself too highly, your fall in his esteem will be the worse.

If, on the other hand, you have wisely refrained from boasting, your new friend will be continually delighted with pleasant discoveries about you, which will be all the more pleasing to him because you did not brag at all. This is just another application of Jesus’ parable about taking the lowest versus the highest seat at a formal dinner (Luke 14).
Andee Seu

"All Truth A Treasure"
Look upon the man who tells thee thy faults as if he told thee of a hidden treasure.
The Dhammapada

"True Nobility"
There is nothing noble in being superior to someone else. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.
Hindu Proverb

“Too Arrogant To Progress”
What shall I do when I despise what I have? A: Remember those who have nothing and strive to be grateful. Take stock of what is right in front of you...You may be blocked in your progress not because you lack opportunity, but because you have been too arrogant to make full use of what you have --- what already lies in front of you.
Jordan Peterson