humility

being free from arrogance or excessive pride, not putting oneself above others

Complementary virtues

Contrasting vices

  • arrogance
  • egotism
  • humiliation / abasedness (vice of excess)
  • inferiority complex (vice of excess)
  • obsequiousness (vice of excess)
  • puffing ones self up
  • self-importance
  • sheepishness (vice of excess)
  • vanity

Virtues possibly in tension

How to acquire or strengthen it

  • If you are searching for humility because you’re trying to reduce a tendency to grandiosity, braggadocio, and self-involvement, maybe, ironically, you need to work on “self esteem”/“self worth” so you won’t feel so much need to overcompensate. (see e.g. Brene Brown)

Notes and links

Mentioned elsewhere

Inspirational quotes

  • “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that is wants to live humbly for one.” ―Wilhelm Stekel
  • “Perfection is impossible without humility. ‘Why should I strive for perfection, if I am already good enough?’” — Tolstoy
  • “Think of the whole universe of matter and how small your share. Think about the expanse of time and how brief — almost momentary — the part marked for you. Think of the workings of fate and how infinitesimal your role.” —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.24
  • “Look upon the man who tells thee thy faults as if he told thee of a hidden treasure, the wise man who shows thee the dangers of life. Follow that man: he who follows him will see good and not evil.” Dhammapada 76
  • “Humility requires realism and humour.” —Iris Murdoch Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals p. 325