Quotes about Humility

"The proud man thinks he can comprehend everything with his mind. The Lord does not grant this ... The Lord does not manifest Himself to the proud soul. Pride is difficult to detect in oneself, but the Lord leaves the proud to be tormented by their impotence until they humble themselves." -- St. Silouan of Mount Athos

Only if you see yourself as zero and being full of passions can you see God.  If you can not see that you are nothing, then you cannot see God.  God lives only in the humble person.

"It is not the self -critical who reveals his humility ( for does not everyone have some how to put up with himself? ).  Rather, it is the man who continues to love the person who has criticized him."

Saint John Climacus

Do not think that enlightenment is going to make you special, it's not. If you feel special in any way, then enlightenment has not occurred. I meet a lot of people who think they are enlightened and awake simply because they have had a very moving spiritual experience. They wear their enlightenment on their sleeve like a badge of honor. They sit among friends and talk about how awake they are while sipping coffee at a cafe. The funny thing about enlightenment is that when it is authentic, there is no one to claim it. Enlightenment is very ordinary; it is nothing special. Rather than making you more special, it is going to make you less special. It plants you right in the center of a wonderful humility and innocence. Everyone else may or may not call you enlightened, but when you are enlightened the whole notion of enlightenment and someone who is enlightened is a big joke. I use the word enlightenment all the time; not to point you toward it but to point you beyond it. Do not get stuck in enlightenment.

DO NOT FORGET, (nor neglect), that the reading of the scriptures can never replace the Mindful Eating of a good bowl of rice.

NOTE THAT Peace soup can only be made by you becoming a humble pea.

Humility is a virtue when you have no other.

"If you think you're enlightened go spend a week with your family."

If you approach the world's complexities, both its glories and its horrors, with an attitude of humble curiosity, acknowledging that however deeply you have seen, you have only just scratched the surface, you will find worlds within worlds, beauties you could not heretofore imagine, and your own mundane preoccupations will shrink to proper size.

The most intelligent person is one who humbly accepts the ideas of others, and not their own

Humility is the beginning - and end - of Wisdom.

Insomuch as you can be simple and humble, and you can want nothing more than to know and serve God, you can rise to the heights of spiriitual life.

Kuʻia ka hele a

ka naʻau haʻahaʻa.

Hesitant walks the humble hearted.

A humble person walks carefully so he will not hurt those about him.

I maintain that the biggest challenge in the new millennium could be a change of habit. We could change from a dominating commodity culture into one of true exchange in which we learn from each other in humility and respect. I do think it's possible. But it's up to us.

No man stands as tall as when he stoops to help a crippled child.

"Everything in moderation, kid. Everything in moderation."

"Everything in moderation, kid. Everything in moderation."

"Everything in moderation, kid. Everything in moderation."

The best CEOs in our research display tremendous ambition for their company combined with the stoic will to do whatever it takes, no matter how brutal (within the bounds of the company's core values), to make the company great. Yet at the same time they display a remarkable humility about themselves, ascribing much of their own success to luck, discipline and preparation rather than personal genius.

Level 5 leaders are differentiated from other levels of leaders in that they have a wonderful blend of personal humility combined with extraordinary professional will. Understand that they are very ambitious; but their ambition, first and foremost, is for the company's success. They realize that the most important step they must make to become a Level 5 leader is to subjugate their ego to the company's performance. When asked for interviews, these leaders will agree only if it's about the company and not about them.

There are so many distractions today it is much easier to sleep; to hit the snooze button in our lives and simply roll over with the best of intentions to get started tomorrow.

Yet with the challenges of today's world, this behavior could be called emotional and spiritual truancy. It is characterized by "the evasion of one's own growth, the setting of low levels of aspiration, the fear of doing what one is capable of doing, voluntary self-crippling, pseudo-stupidity and mock humility." No matter how sophisticated or ingenious the avoidance, it is still a cheap adaptation to the implorings of personal evolution. It is clinging to the trivial, to cultivate our own little gardens. *

* - From Greg Levoy "Callings" excerpted from: http://www.ticl.org/

the complementary movement towards divine love is growth in humility which is the acceptence of the reality about ourselves, our own weakness and limitations.

11. The best people and organizations have the attitude of wisdom: The courage to act on what they know right now and the humility to change course when they find better evidence.

Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all.

It is very rare that you meet with obstacles in this world, which the humblest man has not faculties to surmount.

Humility: the ability to give up your pride and still retain your dignity.

Only two things: the ones you think are important, and those that are.

Humility isn't actually humility unless you're good enoght at something to be humble.

Let the river flow and you will be liberated. Let yourself go with current and you will find yourself. Let the wind so blow and you will be able to break yourself free very much like a ripened fruit of self-respect that sheds itself away from the tree of dependence. Let yourself be blown away humbling as a fallen petal and you will find yourself above the lowly dust of ground, to finally discover the truth of your existence for yourself.

What honor can there be without humility?
           What heights can be reached without being low?

The pieces of a chariot are useless
             unless the work in accordance with the whole
A man's life brings nothing
             unless he lives in accordance with the whole universe
Playing one's part
          in accordance with the universe
          is true humility

So whether you're a gem in the royal court
       or a stone on the common path
If you accept your part with humility
       the glory of the universe will be yours

In the spiritual life the easiest way to conquer ego is to offer gratitude to God for five minutes daily. If you cannot offer gratitude for five minutes, then utter it for one minute. Offer your gratitude to God. Then you will feel that inside you a sweet, fragrant and beautiful flower is growing. That is the flower of humility.