He who speaks without modesty1 will find it difficult to make his words good.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC), The Confucian Analects
The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue3" target="_blank">virtue2.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC), The Confucian Analects
The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC), The Confucian Analects
Modesty is the citadel4 of beauty.
Demades
I have often wished I had time to cultivate modesty... But I am too busy thinking about myself.
Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964), As quoted in The Observer (30 April 1950)
Humility6 is no substitute for a good personality.
Fran Lebowitz (1950 - ), Metropolitan7 Life, 1978
Life is a long lesson in humility.
James M. Barrie (1860 - 1937)
The loss of one's dignified8 bearing is often sudden.
Jerry Van Amerongen, Ballard Street, 09-02-06
Be modest! It is the kind of pride least likely to offend.
Jules Renard (1864 - 1910)
In America, they want you to accomplish these great feats9, to pull off these David Copperfield-type stunts10. You want me to be great, but you don't ever want me to say I'm great?
Kanye West, Rolling Stone, 2006
You couldn't be that good and not know it, somewhere in your secret heart, however much you'd been abused into affecting public humility.
Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign, 1999
Modesty is a shining light; it prepares the mind to receive knowledge, and the heart for truth.
Madam Guizot
Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
I am no more humble11 than my talents require.
Oscar Levant (1906 - 1972)
If I only had a little humility, I'd be perfect.
Ted5 Turner
It well becomes a young man to be modest.
Titus Maccius Plautus (254 BC - 184 BC)
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
