Writings on Humility

LITANY OF HUMILITY

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed,
deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,

From the fear of being humiliated,
deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
That in the opinion of the world,
others may increase, and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
That others may become holier than I,
provided that I may become as holy as I should.

- Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val


ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
Nobody has ever expected me to be president. In my poor, lean lank face nobody has ever seen that any cabbages were sprouting.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them.

ALBERT EINSTEIN:
No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.

ALEXANDER POPE:
Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.

HELEN KELLER:
I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.

MOHANDAS K. GANDHI:
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.

RACHEL CARSON:
It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON:
Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble.



"Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:4
"Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." Matthew 23:12
"You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry." Psalm 10:17 (NIV)
"When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence, and the humble person He will save." Job 22:29
"It is better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud." Proverbs 16:19
"He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble." Proverbs 3:34 (NIV)
"But He gives us greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6
"For He who requires blood remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted." Psalm 9:12
"The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches honor and life." Proverbs 22:4
"The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility." Proverbs 15:33
"A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor." Proverbs 29:23
"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time." 1 Peter 5:6