One of the most important characteristics of any human being is humility. Cultivating humility can be surprisingly powerful in a variety of different ways. It improves your well-being, self-control, work performance and relationships. Inspirational humility quotes will remind you what’s really important, so you can become a person who selflessly serves the world and make a difference.
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Famous Humility Quotes
A soft answer turneth away wrath. — Bible (Proverbs 15:1)
True humility is staying teachable, regardless of how much you already know. — Anonymous
Be gracious in defeat. — Anonymous
A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being. — James E. Faust
Be the change you wish to see in the world. — Ghandi
If you aren’t humble, whatever empathy you claim is false and probably results from some arrogance or the desire to control. But true empathy is rooted in humility and the understanding that there are many people with as much to contribute in life as you. — Anand Mahindra
Pride is about my glory; humility is about God’s glory. — Ephesians
Better to give than to receive. — Bible (Acts 20:35)
Nothing is worse than a beautiful girl fishing for compliments by saying how gross she is. On the flip side, I find genuine humility and modesty attractive. — Chris Evans
Life is a long lesson in humility. — Sir James Matthew Barrie
Better yourself before others. — Darren Bateman
Mastery begins with humility. — Robin Sharma
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
A great man is always willing to be little. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Chickens don’t praise their own soup. — Martinican
Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world. — Miyamoto Musashi
Choose to be forgiven. — Anonymous
Every person that you meet knows something you don’t; learn from them. — H. Jackson Brown Jr
Humility will open more doors than arrogance ever will. — Zig Ziglar
True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing. — Socrates
Cut your coat according to your cloth. — John Heywood
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. — Ernest Hemingway
The biggest challenge after success is shutting up about it. — Criss Jami
Only humility knows how to appreciate and admire the good qualities of others. — Sri Chinmoy
E’er you remark another’s sin, bid your own conscience look within. — Ben Franklin
Falling is easier than rising. — Irish
Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up. — Jesse Jackson
It’s all about humanity, humility, and integrity. — Debra Wilson
Good things come in small packages. — Aesop
The soul is healed by being with children. ― Fyodor Dostoevsky
It is as cheap sitting as it is standing. — Italian Proverb
Humility is the true key to success. Successful people lose their way at times. They often embrace and overindulge from the fruits of success. Humility halts this arrogance and self-indulging trap. Humble people share the credit and wealth, remaining focused and hungry to continue the journey of success. — Rick Pitino
Humility is the greatest quality that a man can have, and arrogance is undoubtedly the worst. — Maulana W. Khan
Sports are such a great teacher. I think of everything they’ve taught me: camaraderie, humility, how to resolve differences. — Kobe Bryant
It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it. — American mothers
On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom. — Michel de Montaigne
Kind words conquer. — Tamil
Humility and knowledge in poor clothes excel pride and ignorance in costly attire. — William Penn
There is nothing I can do to undo what I did. I can only say again how sorry I am to those I let down and then strive to go forward with a greater sense of humility and purpose, and with gratitude to those who stood with me during a very difficult chapter in my life. — David Petraeus
Less is more. — Robert Browning
Let pride go afore, shame will follow after. — George Chapman
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. — George Herbert
Above all, remember that God looks for solid virtues in us, such as patience, humility, obedience, abnegation of your own will – that is, the good will to serve Him and our neighbor in Him. His providence allows us other devotions only insofar as He sees that they are useful to us. — Saint Ignatius
A good youth ought to have a fear of God, to be subject to his parents, to give honor to his elders, to preserve his purity; he ought not to despise humility but should love forbearance and modesty. All these are an ornament to youthful years. — Saint Ambrose
Self-conceit may lead to self-destruction. — Aesop
Self-praise is no recommendation. — Romanian
Silence is golden. — Anonymous
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
Silence is the hardest argument to refute. — Anonymous
Tell me what you are conceited about, and I’ll tell you what you lack. — Argentinian Saying
No matter how good you think you are as a leader, my goodness, the people around you will have all kinds of ideas for how you can get better. So, for me, the most fundamental thing about leadership is to have the humility to continue to get feedback and to try to get better – because your job is to try to help everybody else get better. — Jim Yong Kim
Your own rags are better than another’s gown. — Hausa
There is no respect for others without humility in one’s self. — Henri Frederic Amiel
It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. — Saint Augustine
Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less. — Rick Warren
A man who is eating or lying with his wife or preparing to go to sleep in humility, thankfulness and temperance, is, by Christian standards, in an infinitely higher state than one who is listening to Bach or reading Plato in a state of pride. — C. S. Lewis
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
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
To share your weakness is to make yourself vulnerable; to make yourself vulnerable is to show your strength. ― Criss Jami
A Christian reveals true humility by showing the gentleness of Christ, by being always ready to help others, by speaking kind words and performing unselfish acts, which elevate and ennoble the most sacred message that has come to our world. — Ellen G. White
Stay hungry, stay young, stay foolish, stay curious, and above all, stay humble because just when you think you got all the answers, is the moment when some bitter twist of fate in the universe will remind you that you very much don’t. — Tom Hiddleston
He who sacrifices a whole offering shall be rewarded for a whole offering; he who offers a burnt-offering shall have the reward of a burnt-offering; but he who offers humility to God and man shall be rewarded with a reward as if he had offered all the sacrifices in the world. — The Talmud
The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes. ― Winston S. Churchill
True humility is not an abject, groveling, self-despising spirit; it is but a right estimate of ourselves as God sees us. — Tryon Edwards
The principles of living greatly include the capacity to face trouble with courage, disappointment with cheerfulness, and trial with humility. — Thomas S. Monson
If thou desire the love of God and man, be humble; for the proud heart, as it loves none but itself, so it is believed of none but by itself; the voice of humility is God’s music, and the silence of humility is God’s rhetoric. Humility enforces where neither virtue nor strength can prevail nor reason. — Francis Quarles
Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all. — William Temple
“Thank you” is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding. — Alice Walker
Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation. — Saint Augustine
The greatest friend of truth is Time, her greatest enemy is Prejudice, and her constant companion is Humility. ― Charles Caleb Colton
It is not for me to judge another man’s life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone. ― Herman Hesse
The proud man can learn humility, but he will be proud of it. — Mignon McLaughlin
We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility. — Rabindranath Tagore
Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real. — Thomas Merton
Real genius is nothing else but the supernatural virtue of humility in the domain of thought. — Simone Weil
Humility is throwing oneself away in complete concentration on something or someone else. — Madeleine L’Engle
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
Humility is really important because it keeps you fresh and new. — Steven Tyler
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
Humility is freedom from your own driven ego. — Martha Kilpatrick
Humility is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying. — St. Vincent de Paul
I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day. ― Abraham Lincoln
Don’t imagine that if you meet a really humble man, he will be what most people call ‘humble’ nowadays: he won’t be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who’s always telling you that, of course, he’s nobody. Probably all you’ll think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him, it will be because you feel a bit envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He won’t be thinking about himself at all. If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you’re not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed. — C.S. Lewis
Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of kings – stories that taught us of the danger of hubris and the primacy of humility. — Tom Hiddleston
Selflessness is humility. Humility and freedom go hand in hand. Only a humble person can be free. — Jeff Wilson
The first test of a truly great man is his humility. By humility I don’t mean doubt of his powers or hesitation in speaking his opinion, but merely an understanding of the relationship of what he can say and what he can do. — John Ruskin
Humility, that low, sweet root, from which all heavenly virtues shoot. — Thomas Moore
A vulgar mind is proud in prosperity and humble in adversity. A noble mind is humble in prosperity and proud in adversity. — Ruckett
As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on thing and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you. ― C.S. Lewis
There is one common thing in superstars – enthusiasm and humility towards their work. Off sets, they are big stars for others, and they carry themselves the way they want to. When they are working, they are not stars. — Abhishek Bachchan
Humility is no substitute for a good personality. — Fran Lebowitz
When we become aware of our humility, we’ve lost it. — Anonymous
Those who are believed to be most abject and humble are usually most ambitious and envious. — Baruch Spinoza
Therefore, a person should first be changed by a teacher’s instructions and guided by principles of ritual. Only then can he observe the rules of courtesy and humility, obey the conventions and rules of society, and achieve order. — Xun Kuang
Pride juggles with her toppling towers, they strike the sun and cease. But the firm feet of humility, they grip the ground like trees. — G.K. Chesterton
A true genius admits that he/she knows nothing. ― Albert Einstein
Humility is often merely feigned submissiveness assumed in order to subject others, an artifice of pride which stoops to conquer, and although pride has a thousand ways of transforming itself it is never so well disguised and able to take people in as when masquerading as humility. — Francois de la Rochefoucauld
Religion is meant to teach us true spiritual human character. It is meant for self-transformation. It is meant to transform anxiety into peace, arrogance into humility, envy into compassion, to awaken the pure soul in man and his love for the Source, which is God. — Radhanath Swami
Humility provides everyone, even him who despairs in solitude, with the strongest relationship to his fellow man, and this immediately, though, of course, only in the case of complete and permanent humility. — Franz Kafka
When stepped on, the worm curls up. That is a clever thing to do. Thus it reduces its chances of being stepped on again. In the language of morality: humility. — Friedrich Nietzsche
What humility does for one is it reminds us that there are people before me. I have already been paid for. And what I need to do is prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who has yet to come but who may be here and needs me. — Maya Angelou
Humility, like the darkness, reveals the heavenly lights. — Henry David Thoreau
Humility is the most difficult of all virtues to achieve; nothing dies harder than the desire to think well of self. — T.S. Eliot
Cheerfully fessing up to our failures turns crazy mind off, humility and compassion on. I learned this in a karate dojo that had a strange tradition. Everyone there loved recounting failure stories, and after an evening of smacking one another, we’d sit and have a beer while the students swapped tales of martial arts disaster. — Martha Beck
Never be proud but show humility towards others, true wisdom lies in being humble. — Shri Radhe Maa
Be like the bamboo the higher you grow the deeper you bow. — Chinese Proverb
An intelligent person is never afraid or ashamed to find errors in their understanding of things. — Bryant H. McGill
Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right. — Ezra Taft Benson
Humility is a great quality of leadership which derives respect and not just fear or hatred. — Yousef Munayyer
I believe the first test of a truly great man is in his humility. — John Ruskin
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. — Augustine Of Hippo
