Quotes about Humility
IN order that Love may be fully satisfied it must needs stoop to very nothingness and transform that nothing into fire.
— St. Therese of Lisieux
It would not disturb me if (supposing the impossible) God himself did not see my good actions. I love him so much, that I would like to give him joy without his knowing who gave it. When he does know, he is, as it were, obliged to make a return.
— St. Therese of Lisieux
you must be always as a drop of dew hidden in the heart of this beautiful Lily of the valley ... One must be so little to draw near to Jesus, and few are the souls that aspire to be little and unknown. ... Our Beloved needs neither our brilliant deeds nor our beautiful thoughts. ... The Lily of the valley asks but a single dewdrop, which for one night shall rest in its cup, hidden from all human eyes.
— St. Therese of Lisieux
Offer to God the sacrifice of never gathering any fruit. If He will that throughout your whole life you should feel a repugnance to suffering and humiliation—if He permit that all the flowers of your desires and of your good will should fall to the ground without any fruit appearing, do not worry. At the hour of death, in the twinkling of an eye, He will cause fair fruits to ripen on the tree of your soul.
— St. Therese of Lisieux
Ministers of reconciliation must be patient and longsuffering. They must be characterized by meekness such that they do not think more highly of themselves than they ought (Matt. 5:5). They must hold up under the weight of disappointments, frustrations, loss, attack, slander, and offense (Matt. 18:21—22; Rom. 15:1). By carrying each others' burdens we fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2).
— Thabiti M. Anyabwile
Resolved, To act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings, as others, and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.
— Thabiti M. Anyabwile
If we're focusing on others in an attempt to justify ourselves before God or to "exalt ourselves" as "giants of the faith," we will not only not grow as we ought, but we will also delude ourselves into thinking we're better than we are. And we may be sure that God will humble us. So it is better to humble ourselves and trust in the grace of God than to be opposed by God because of pride (James 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5).
— Thabiti M. Anyabwile
Not only do healthy church members accept the Lord's chastisement, but they humbly accept correction from others. They recognize that often the Lord's correction comes through other members in the church, saints who care enough not only to encourage in good times but to confront and correct when necessary. Healthy church members agree that "better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend" (Prov. 27:5—6).
— Thabiti M. Anyabwile
all the while I was thinking that I was the only man who did not know what I was about, and that all the others did—whereas, as I found out later, pretty much everybody else was as much in the dark as I was.
— Theodore Roosevelt
Tremble in His midst so as to never falter in the midst of the grave responsibilities of life. Humility properly placed is the only sure foundation of leadership.
— Theodore Roosevelt
Be thankful for the least gift, so shalt thou be meant to receive greater.
— Thomas a Kempis
Endeavor to be always patient of the faults and imperfections of others for thou has many faults and imperfections of thine own that require forbearance. If thou are not able to make thyself that which thou wishest, how canst thou expect to mold another in conformity to thy will?
— Thomas a Kempis