Last Updated on March 30, 2023
Achievements are a big milestone in one’s life. They serve as a testament to the hard work and diligence put into a given plan. Achievements and success range in degree depending on the person and the hard work put into a project. Many get wrapped up in their personal success, especially when all their hard work produces something truly great.
While it is alright to celebrate your achievements, you should be careful not to cross the line into conceitedness. Your attitude affects those around you a lot more than you think. In the likelihood that your achievement came about thanks to the help of others, they won’t feel as valued if you place a lot more importance on your role.
There is an obvious problem with placing yourself on a high pedestal. You begin to grow blind to your faults and mistakes and stop growing as a person. Humility gives you the desire to learn because it places your flaws on display for yourself and all to see.
Either way, people will call you out on your flaws. A genuinely humble person finds it easier to take criticism. Instead of finding fault, they try to work on themselves and grow beyond what they have been told. Yes, you may see faults in others, but a humble person is also very patient with the people around them.
The goal is for everyone to become the best version of themselves that they can possibly be. Humility helps you realize this and work towards it, not by yourself, but with the people around you as well.
You will likely achieve many impressive things in your lifetime, and it is easy to get carried away with your achievements. Humility keeps you grounded and helps you realize that your contributions are minuscule in the grand scheme of things. This grants you a clear perspective and helps you focus on what’s important, ultimately leading to a much happier life.
Humility Quotes
Despite all the checks and balances presented by humility, it is still possible to get caught up in one’s conceitedness. Thankfully, there are other ways to become aware of and check your conceitedness. Compiled here are a collection of quotes geared toward reminding you to stay humble and think not of yourself or your achievements but of those around you.
1. “… talent means nothing, while experience, acquired in humility and with hard work, means everything.”
– Patrick Süskind.
2. “We can choose to humble ourselves by conquering enmity toward our brothers and sisters, esteeming them as ourselves, and lifting them as high or higher than we are.”
– Ezra Taft Benson.
3. “The proud man can learn humility, but he will be proud of it.”
– Mignon McLaughlin.
4. “Humility isn’t denying your strengths; it’s being honest about your weaknesses.”
– Rick Warren.
5. “There is no respect for others without humility in one’s self.”
– Henri Frederic Amiel.
6. “Humility is becoming a lost art, but it’s not difficult to practice. It means that you realize that others have been involved in your success.”
– Harvey Mackay.
7. “Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.”
– Thomas Merton.
8. “Be humble in your confidence yet courageous in your character.”
– Melanie Koulouris.
9. “Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.”
– Saint Augustine.
10. “It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”
– Mahatma Gandhi.
11. “One of the most important things about leadership is that you have to have the kind of humility that will allow you to be coached.”
– Jim Yong Kim.
12. “Humility is the most beautiful virtue that we can develop.”
– Joyce Meyer.
13. “We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.”
– Rabindranath Tagore.
14. “Working together on solving something requires a high level of humility and a high level of self-awareness.”
– Paul Polman.
15. “Some ask if lowering one’s pride is conceding defeat. I think not. Humility is a sign of inner strength and wisdom.”
– Haemin Sunim.
16. “Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues.”
– Confucius.
17. “Humility must accompany all our actions, must be with us everywhere; for as soon as we glory in our good works they are of no further value to our advancement in virtue.”
– Saint Augustine.
18. “True humility is not an abject, groveling, self-despising spirit; it is but a right estimate of ourselves as God sees us.”
– Tryon Edwards.
19. “Humility, gentleness, and helpfulness go so much further and open doors you cannot imagine.”
– Ann Tran.
20. “Just knowing you don’t have the answers is a recipe for humility, openness, acceptance, forgiveness, and an eagerness to learn – and those are all good things.”
– Dick Van Dyke.
21. “Humility will open more doors than arrogance ever will.”
– Zig Ziglar.
22. “Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved?”
– Carl Sagan.
23. “Humility is nothing else but a right judgment of ourselves.”
– William Law.
24. “The greatest friend of truth is Time, her greatest enemy is Prejudice, and her constant companion is Humility.”
– Charles Caleb Colton.
25. “The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility.”
– T. S. Eliot.
26. “When it comes to true humility in the face of history, nothing beats complete silence.”
– Lev Grossman.
27. “I believe the first test of a truly great man is in his humility.”
– John Ruskin.
28. “Think not that humility is weakness; it shall supply the marrow of strength to thy bones. Stoop and conquer; bow thyself and become invincible.”
– Charles Spurgeon.
29. “Let us be absolutely clear about one thing: we must not confuse humility with false modesty or servility.”
– Paulo Coelho.
30. “Have more humility. Remember you don’t know the limits of your own abilities. Successful or not, if you keep pushing beyond yourself, you will enrich your own life–and maybe even please a few strangers.”
– A. L. Kennedy.
31. “Without humility, there can be no humanity.”
– John Buchan.
32. “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”
– Saint Augustine.
33. “Vanity is a mark of humility rather than of pride.”
– Jonathan Swift.
34. “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”
– Rick Warren.
35. “Humility has to do with trying to be a vessel of purposes you’re content to understand as not your own.”
– David Milch.
36. Real genius is nothing else but the supernatural virtue of humility in the domain of thought.
– Simone Weil.
37. “Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.”
– Ezra T. Benson.
38. “Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.”
– Jane Austen.
39. “Humility, like gratitude, is not so much a technique as it is a way of life.”
– Ed Latimore.
40. “I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others.”
– Lao Tzu.
41. “A humble person is more likely to be self-confident… a person with real humility knows how much they are loved.”
– Cornelius Plantinga.
42. “Humility is no substitute for a good personality.”
– Fran Lebowitz.
