Values & Character: Humility Quotes

These quotes highlight humility as a quiet strength that opens space for learning, service, and respect. They invite calm reflection on modesty, gratitude, and the courage to listen before speaking. Use them to ground daily choices, mentor teams, or balance ambition with empathy. Whether you are leading, collaborating, or growing through setbacks, these words encourage steady character, honest self-assessment, and dignity in success and failure.

Similar topics:Forgiveness Gratitude Honesty & Integrity Kindness Respect

"There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it ill behaves any of us to find fault with the rest of us"

James Truslow Adams, Historian

James Truslow Adams

"The beloved of the Almighty are: the rich who have the humility of the poor, and the poor who have the magnanimity of the rich"

Saadi, Poet

Saadi

"Be curious, not judgmental"

Walt Whitman, Poet

Walt Whitman

"Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real"

Thomas Merton, Author

Thomas Merton

"Don't let your will roar when your power only whispers"

Thomas Fuller, Clergyman

Thomas Fuller

"The best loved by God are those that are rich, yet have the humility of the poor, and those that are poor and have the magnanimity of the rich"

Saadi, Poet

Saadi

"The flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lowly"

William Wordsworth, Poet

William Wordsworth

"People in very high places suddenly fall, and we are always surprised because we don't factor in the basic element that they're humans and, therefore, they are flawed and have weaknesses"

Carlisle Floyd, Composer

"We are so very 'umble"

Charles Dickens, Novelist

Charles Dickens

"Big words seldom accompany good deeds"

Charlotte Whitton, Politician

"Do not despise the bottom rungs in the ascent to greatness"

Publilius Syrus, Poet

Publilius Syrus

"To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization"

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Author

Harriet Beecher Stowe

"Growth begins when we begin to accept our own weakness"

Jean Vanier, Philosopher

Jean Vanier

"I've come from nowhere, and I'm not shy to go back"

Jason Statham, Actor

Jason Statham

"The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month"

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Novelist

Fyodor Dostoevsky

"Men must know their limitations"

Clint Eastwood, Actor

Clint Eastwood

"The sufficiency of merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient"

Francis Quarles, Poet

"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"

Saint Augustine, Saint

Saint Augustine

"Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief"

Jane Austen, Writer

Jane Austen

"Humility is not cowardice. Meekness is not weakness. Humility and meekness are indeed spiritual powers"

Swami Sivananda, Philosopher

Swami Sivananda

"When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that four of his fingers are pointing at himself"

Louis Nizer, Lawyer

Louis Nizer

"He that humbleth himself wishes to be exalted"

Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher

Friedrich Nietzsche

"Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is"

Benjamin Franklin, Politician

Benjamin Franklin

"It wasn't until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say "I don't know.""

W. Somerset Maugham, Playwright

W. Somerset Maugham

"When someone sings his own praises, he always gets the tune too high"

Mary H. Waldrip, Editor

Mary H. Waldrip

"True, I am in love with suffering, but I do not know if I deserve the honor"

Saint Ignatius, Saint

"A great man is always willing to be little"

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Philosopher

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"When you are aspiring to the highest place, it is honorable to reach the second or even the third rank"

Cicero, Philosopher

Cicero

"The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk"

Cicero, Philosopher

Cicero

"A real gentleman, even if he loses everything he owns, must show no emotion. Money must be so far beneath a gentleman that it is hardly worth troubling about"

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Novelist

Fyodor Dostoevsky

"The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment"

Elbert Hubbard, Writer

Elbert Hubbard

"In my case Pilgrim's Progress consisted in my having to climb down a thousand ladders until I could reach out my hand to the little clod of earth that I am"

Carl Jung, Psychologist

Carl Jung

"Humility and knowledge in poor clothes excel pride and ignorance in costly attire"

William Penn, Leader

William Penn

"Avoid popularity; it has many snares, and no real benefit"

William Penn, Leader

William Penn

"Sense shines with a double luster when it is set in humility. An able yet humble man is a jewel worth a kingdom"

William Penn, Leader

William Penn

"I am only a sparrow amongst a great flock of sparrows"

Evita Peron, Statesman

Evita Peron

"I have an unfortunate personality"

Orson Welles, Actor

Orson Welles

"The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection"

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, Writer

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes"

John Ruskin, Writer

John Ruskin

"With people of limited ability modesty is merely honesty. But with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy"

Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher

Arthur Schopenhauer

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