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Humility |
"Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
(Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 18:4)
"Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
(Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 23:12)
"Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you."
(St. James, Jms. 4:10)
"Finally, all of you, be of one mind, sympathetic, loving toward one another, compassionate, humble."
(St. Peter, 1 Pt. 3:8)
"I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of
peace" (St. Paul, Eph. 4:1-3)
"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do."
(St. Paul, Col. 3:12-13)
"Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show his works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom."
(St. James, Jms. 3:13)
"And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for:
'God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble.' So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time."
(St. Peter, 1 Pt. 5:5-6)
"The safe and true way to heaven is made by humility"
(St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)
"For if with men humility is so lovely, much more with God."
(St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)
"That humility and quietness are to be maintained in all things."
(St. Cyprian of Carthage)
"Let
us not deceive ourselves. If we have not got humility, we have
nothing." (St. Vincent de Paul)
"As
a ship cannot be built without nails, so a person cannot be saved
without humility" (St. Syncletice)
"He who is truly humble would be
reputed vile and abject, not humble." (St.
Bernard Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church)
"Quench your anger, wipe out enmities, cherish unity, and vie with one another in the offices of true humility."
(Pope St. Leo the Great, Doctor of the Church)
"If
you fast without humility, it is worth nothing and cannot be
pleasing to the Lord." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the
Church)
"[S]ome are even proud of their humility."
(St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest
theologian in the history of the Church")
"If
we possessed every virtue, but lacked humility, those virtues
would be without root and would not last." (St. Vincent de
Paul)
"A
really humble man would rather let another say that he is
contemptible and worth nothing, than to say so himself." (St.
Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)
"Humility, like other virtues, resides chiefly inwardly in the soul."
(St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest
theologian in the history of the Church")
"Never be elated at thy humility!
Perhaps you laugh at the expression, as if humility could puff up. But be not surprised at it, it puffs up, when it is not genuine."
(St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)
"For
whosoever will proudly dispute or contradict, will always stand
without the door. Christ, the master of humility, manifests his
truth only to the humble, and hides himself from the proud" (St. Vincent Ferrer)
"Humility
is to the various virtues what the chain is in a rosary. Take away
the chain and the beads are scattered; removed humility, and all
virtues vanish." (St. John Vianney)
"We
must never glance at what is good in ourselves, much less ponder
over it, but we should search out what is wrong and what is
lacking. This is an excellent way of remaining humble." (St.
Vincent de Paul)
"A
humble person, if his opinion is asked, gives it in all simplicity
and then leaves others to give theirs. Whether they are right or
wrong, he says no more." (St. John Vianney)
"With
a humble person, whether he is laughed at or esteemed, praised or
blamed, honored or despised, whether people pay attention to him
or pass him by, it is all the same to him." (St. John Vianney)
"We
should also remember that humility is the route to heaven. A
loving acceptance of it when we are humiliated usually rises up,
guiding us, as it were, step by step from one virtue to the next
until we reach heaven." (St. Vincent de Paul)
"Let
the humble be told, then, that when they abase themselves, they
ascend to the likeness of God; let the haughty be told that, when
they exalt themselves, they fall into the imitation of the
apostate angel." (Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the
Church)
"You
aspire to great things? Begin with little ones. You desire to
erect a very high building? Think first of the foundation of
humility. The higher one intends it, the deeper must the
foundations be laid." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)
"Humility is not much to be praised in one who is poor of
necessity. But in one who, like Christ, is poor willingly, poverty itself is a sign of very great humility."
(St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest
theologian in the history of the Church")
"For as Gregory says
(Registrum ii,10, Ep. 36), 'there is nothing great in being humble towards those who treat us with regard, for even worldly people do this: but we should especially be humble towards those who make us
suffer'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest
theologian in the history of the Church")
"All
heavenly visions, revelations and feelings - or whatever else one
may desire to think on - are not worth as much as the least act of
humility. Humility has the effect of charity: It neither esteems
nor seeks its own, it thinks no evil save of self, it thinks no
good of self but of others." (St. John of the Cross, Doctor
of the Church)
"Man
arrives at humility in two ways. First and chiefly by a gift of
grace, and in this way the inner man precedes the outward man. The
other way is by human effort, whereby he first of all restrains
the outward man, and afterwards succeeds in plucking out the
inward root."
(St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest
theologian in the history of the Church")
"Humility
and charity are the master chords that all other virtues depend
upon. The one is the lowest, the other the highest. The
preservation of the entire edifice depends on the foundation and
the roof. If the heart keeps itself directed in the exercise of
these, no difficulty will be encountered in the others. These are
the mothers of virtue, the others follow them as the chicks do
their mother." [St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)]
"Since
pride has hurled Lucifer into the abyss, and the self-abasement of
the Son of God has led to His exaltation above the heavens,
humility, whatever men may now say, has lost nothing of its
inestimable value; it is still the indispensable foundation of
every durable edifice wither spiritual or social; the basis,
without which the other virtues, and even charity, the queen of
them all, could not subsist a single day." (Liturgical Year)
"We
must indeed keep ourselves humble because of our imperfections,
but this humility must be the foundation of a great generosity,
for one without the other degenerates into imperfection. Humility
without generosity is only a deception and a cowardice of heart
which makes us think that we are good for nothing and that others
should never think of using us in anything great. On the other
hand, generosity without humility is only presumption." (St.
Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)
"Humility
is not sterling, and cannot please God, unless, to the lowly
estimation we have of ourselves, we join an esteem for others,
preventing everyone with honor, gladly yielding to all in matters
which do not affect our conscience; and all this from a
deep-rooted conviction of our own misery and worthlessness in the
sight of Him who searches the reins and heart. The surest test of
our humility before God is that practical charity for our
neighbor, which, in the several circumstances of everyday life,
induces us, and without affectation, to give him the precedence
over ourselves." (Liturgical Year)
"Beware
of that excessive reserve, which certain persons have, and which
they take for humility. If the king deigned to grant you a favor,
would it be humility to meet him with a refusal? And when the
sovereign Lord of heaven and earth deigns to honor my soul with
His visit, and comes to load me with graces, and to rejoice with
me; should I prove myself humble if I would not answer Him, nor
keep Him company, nor accept His gifts, but fled from His presence
and left Him all alone? A strange sort of humility is that!"
(St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church)
"The reason why Christ chiefly proposed humility to us, was because it especially removes the obstacle to man's spiritual welfare consisting in man's aiming at heavenly and spiritual things, in which he is hindered by striving to become great in earthly things. Hence our Lord, in order to remove an obstacle to our spiritual welfare, showed by giving an example of humility, that outward exaltation is to be despised. Thus humility is, as it were, a disposition to man's untrammeled access to spiritual and divine goods."
(St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest
theologian in the history of the Church")
"And, that he might bring us back to the way of life through humility, He deigned to exhibit in Himself what He teaches us, saying, Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart
(Matth. xi. 29). For to this end the only begotten Son of God took upon Himself the form of our weakness; to this end the Invisible appeared not only as visible but even as despised; to this end He endured the mocks of contumely, the reproaches of derision, the torments of suffering; that God in His humility might teach man not to be proud. How great, then, is the virtue of humility for the sake of teaching which alone He who is great beyond compare became little even unto the suffering of death! For, since the pride of the devil was the origin of our perdition, the humility of God has been found the means of our redemption. That is to say, our enemy, having been created among all things, desired to appear exalted above all things; but our Redeemer remaining great above all things, deigned to become little among all things."
(Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church)
"In that way the first part is humility; the second, humility; the third, humility: and this I would continue to repeat as often as you might ask direction, not that there are no other instructions which may be given, but because, unless humility precede, accompany, and follow every good action which we perform, being at once the object which we keep before our eyes, the support to which we cling, and the monitor by which we are restrained, pride wrests wholly from our hand any good work on which we are congratulating
ourselves. All other vices are to be apprehended when we are doing wrong; but pride is to be feared even when we do right actions,
lest those things which are done in a praiseworthy manner be spoiled by the desire for praise itself. Wherefore, as that most illustrious orator, on being asked what seemed to him the first thing to be observed in the art of eloquence, is said to have replied, Delivery; and when he was asked what was the second thing, replied again, Delivery; and when asked what was the third thing, still gave no other reply than this, Delivery; so if you were to ask me, however often you might repeat the question, what are the instructions of the Christian religion, I would be disposed to answer always and only,
'Humility,' although, perchance, necessity might constrain me to speak also of other things."
(St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)
"The twelve degrees
[of pride] mentioned by Bernard are reckoned by way of opposition to the twelve degrees of
humility... For the first degree of humility is to 'be humble in heart, and to show it in one's very person, one's eyes fixed on the
ground': and to this is opposed 'curiosity,' which consists in looking around in all directions curiously and inordinately. The second degree of humility is
'to speak few and sensible words, and not to be loud of voice': to this is opposed
'frivolity of mind,' by which a man is proud of speech. The third degree of humility is
'not to be easily moved and disposed to laughter,' to which is opposed
'senseless mirth.' The fourth degree of humility is 'to maintain silence until one is
asked,' to which is opposed 'boasting'. The fifth degree of humility is
'to do nothing but to what one is exhorted by the common rule of the
monastery,' to which is opposed 'singularity,' whereby a man wishes to seem more holy than others. The sixth degree of humility is
'to believe and acknowledge oneself viler than all,' to which is opposed
'arrogance,' whereby a man sets himself above others. The seventh degree of humility is
'to think oneself worthless and unprofitable for all purposes,' to which is opposed
'presumption,' whereby a man thinks himself capable of things that are above him. The eighth degree of humility is
'to confess one's sins,' to which is opposed 'defense of one's
sins.' The ninth degree is 'to embrace patience by obeying under difficult and contrary
circumstances,' to which is opposed 'deceitful confession,' whereby a man being unwilling to be punished for his sins confesses them deceitfully. The tenth degree of humility is
'obedience,' to which is opposed 'rebelliousness.' The eleventh degree of humility is
'not to delight in fulfilling one's own desires'; to this is opposed
'license,' whereby a man delights in doing freely whatever he will. The last degree of humility is
'fear of God': to this is opposed 'the habit of sinning,' which implies contempt of God."
(St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest
theologian in the history of the Church")
Also
See: Renouncing
One's Self | Pride
/ Vanity | Modesty
/ Proper Dress [Pg.] | Humility
(Topical Scripture)
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