Quotes About Humility

Humility pays.

C'est aux sultans et aux cadis qu'il faut parler avec des circonlocutions. Pas au Créateur. Dieu est grand, II n'a que faire de nos petits airs et de nos petites courbettes. II m'a fait pensant, alors je pense, et je Lui livre sans dissimulation le fruit de ma pensée.

There is no point in fighting condescension with condescension.

I wasn't a very good teacher.

Whitman said, 'I am as bad as the worst but, thank God, I am as good as the best.' You ought to spend more time with people who know how bad they are.

Finding out that you are wrong is even more valuable than being right, because you are learning.

Two essential behaviors that signal an invitation is genuine are adopting a mindset of situational humility and engaging in proactive inquiry. Designing structures for input, another powerful tool I discuss in this section, also serves as an invitation for voice.

no one wants to take the interpersonal risk of imposing ideas when the boss appears to think he or she knows everything. A learning mindset, which blends humility and curiosity, mitigates this risk. A learning mindset recognizes that there is always more to learn.

Frankly, adopting a humble mindset when faced with the complex, dynamic, uncertain world in which we all work today is simply realism.

Confidence in one's abilities and knowledge, when warranted, is far preferable to false modesty. But humility is not modesty, false or otherwise. Humility is the simple recognition that you don't have all the answers, and you certainly don't have a crystal ball. Research shows that when leaders express humility, teams engage in more learning behavior.

As a Coptic priest in New York put it, "[H]umility is a mediator. It will always be the shortest distance between you and another person.

More important than talent, strength, or knowledge is the ability to laugh at yourself and enjoy the pursuit of your dreams.

It wasn't just the awe of celebrity that moved you; celebrity usually exudes entitlement more than it does peace.

It takes a truly great man to see that he's been wrong and to apologize for it, even in the face of the obvious.

It deserves our respect, don't you think? If you don't respect the ocean, or time, or fate, or the big things in the world, you sort of have

If there's one thing I believe, its that I don't know anything and anything can happen

I don't mind pointing out some of the failings of old age, because we are all headed in that direction, unless of course we take our own lives before we become a burden. I'm not advocating suicide, oh wait, I guess I am.

Through the years, I've never met an emotionally mature man or woman of God who has not traveled through a period of great suffering. With God as our touchstone, suffering builds hope and humility. I've learned that each human being must sooner or later decide if they want to be cool or deep. I'm putting my money on deep.4

I can't tell you who he is. Why would I presume to know? I'm not Gay Yoda.

How wise people thought themselves when they often knew nothing about what they were talking!

Are we so hierarchical that we can't respect a creature that lives beneath our feet?

I don't think I'm such an amazing person who needs to be written about.

Inheriting the earth, for the psalm and for the Gospel, requires being humble, not in the sense of lowly, but in the sense of being able to listen to others, to share resources, to prioritize community rather than authority, to serve rather than to be served.

But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." 26 He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." 27 She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.