#humility

If you desire to know or learn anything to your advantage, then take delight in being unknown and unregarded. A true understanding and humble estimate of oneself is the highest and most valuable of all lessons. To take no account of oneself, but always to think well and highly of others is the highest wisdom and perfection. ↗

— Thomas à Kempis

#life

While people argue with one another about the specifics of Freud's work and blame him for the prejudices of his time, they overlook the fundamental truth of his writing, his grand humility: that we frequently do not know our own motivations in life and are prisoners to what we cannot understand. We can recognize only a small fragment of our own, and an even smaller fragment of anyone else's, impetus. ↗

— Andrew Solomon

#humility #impetus #motivations #prejudice #truth

Humility is a Divine property and the perfection of the Christian life. It is attained through obedience. He who is not obedient cannot gain humility. There are very few in the world today who have obedience. Our humility is in proportion to our obedience. ↗

— Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

#eastern-orthodoxy #humility #obedience #life

Your young white, who gathers his learning from books and can measure what he knows by the page, may conceit that his knowledge, like his legs, outruns that of his fathers’, but, where experience is the master, the scholar is made to know the value of years, and respects them accordingly. ↗

— James Fenimore Cooper

#humility #youth #education

We feel that, for the honour of God (and also, though we do not say this, for the sake of our own reputation as spiritual Christians), it is necessary for us to claim that we are, so to speak, already in the signal-box, here and now enjoying the inside information as to the why and wherefore of God’s doings. This comforting pretence becomes part of us: we feel sure that God has enabled us to understand all His ways with us and our circle thus far, and we take if for granted that we shall be able to see at once the reason for anything that may happen to us in the future. And then something very painful and quite inexplicable comes along, and our cheerful illusion of being in God’s secret councils is shattered. Our pride is wounded; we feel that God has slighted us; and unless at this point we repent, and humble ourselves very thoroughly for our former presumption, our whole subsequent spriritual life may be blighted. ↗

— J.I. Packer

#knowledge #questions #life

The King of Glory does not reward His servants according to the dignity of their office, but according to the humility and love with which they have exercised it. ↗

— St. Francis de Sales

#humility #love #love

If there is one thing the psychic taught me, it's that people and events are rarely who and what we think they are. They are more meaningful, more worth our attention-part of some finely choreographed, eternal dance that we would be wise to bow down before in gratitude and humility. ↗

— Leslie Morgan Steiner

#humility #life #life-purpose #meaning #worth

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

— Andrew Murray

#men

And inasmuch as they erred it might be made known; And inasmuch as they sought wisdom they might be instructed; And inasmuch as they sinned they might be chastened, that they might repent; And inasmuch as they were humble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time. ↗

— Doctrine and Covenants

#religion #weakness #wisdom #religion

Any honours that come our way are only stolen from him to whom alone they really belong, the Lord who sent us. ↗

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

#christianity #discipleship #honor #humility #respect