quotes about Modesty
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Modesty is a valuable merit ... in people who have no other, and the appearance of it is extremely useful to those who have ...
-- Ada Leverson -
I think in the world of indie music there's this sort of false modesty.
-- Alex Kapranos -
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I am not aware that I have deserved any notoriey, and I have no taste for its buzz.
-- Alfred Nobel -
There is a sad forgetfulness of Christian modesty, especially in the life and dress of women.
-- Alice von Hildebrand -
Modesty is bred of self-reverence. Fine manners are the mantle of fair minds.
-- Amos Bronson Alcott -
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My dear Watson," said [Sherlock Holmes], "I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one's self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one's own powers.
-- Arthur Conan Doyle -
How beautiful then is modesty and what a gem among virtues it is.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
A farmer is dependent on too many things outside his control; it makes for modesty.
-- Bharati MukherjeeSource : Bharati Mukherjee (2007). “Jasmine”, p.12, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
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It is only the first obstacle which counts to conquer modesty.
-- Bill Vaughan -
What is beauty, but an extension of modesty?
-- Boonaa Mohammed -
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In science, modesty and genius do not coexist well together. (In Washington, modesty and cleverness don't.) Einstein is perhaps the most famous exception to the rule.
-- Charles Krauthammer -
As to modesty and decency, if we are simians we have done well, considering: but if we are something else-fallen angels-we have indeed fallen far.
-- Clarence DaySource : Clarence Day, Jr. (2004). “This Simian World”, p.56, 1st World Publishing
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What does God think of spurious beauty, rejecting utterly as He does all falsehood?
-- Clement of Alexandria -
How shall we praise the magnificence of the dead, The great man humbled, the haughty brought to dust?
-- Conrad Aiken -
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Sometimes the best virtue learned on the battlefield is modesty.
-- David Halberstam -
False modesty can be worse than arrogance.
-- David Mitchell -
Modesty is related to diffidence, diffidence is related to shyness, Shyness is a synonym for timidity, timidity is a characteristic of the meek, the meek do not inherit the Earth, they serve those who are self confident and self assertive.
-- Dean Koontz -
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Modesty is a bright dish-cover, which makes us fancy there is something very nice underneath it.
-- Douglas William Jerrold -
I have often wished I had time to cultivate modesty... but I am too busy thinking about myself.
-- Edith SitwellSource : In Observer 30 Apr. 1950
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I don't think that modesty is the outstanding characteristic of contemporary politics, do you?
-- Edward Heath -
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To confess your fallibility and then do nothing about it is not humble; it is boasting of your modesty.
-- Eliezer YudkowskySource : "Twelve Virtues of Rationality". Personal Website, yudkowsky.net.
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Modesty and taste are questions of latitude and education; the more people know,--the more their ideas are expanded by travel, experience, and observation,--the less easily they are shocked. The narrowness and bigotry of women are the result of their circumscribed sphere of thought and action.
-- Elizabeth Cady Stanton -
I am by far your superior, but my notorious modesty prevents me from saying so.
-- Erik Satie -
Courtesy, modesty, good manners, conformity to definite ethical standards are universal, but what constitutes courtesy, modesty, good manners, and definite ethical standards is not universal. It is instructive to know that standards differ in the most unexpected ways
-- Franz BoasSource : Foreword to "Coming of Age in Samoa" by Margaret Mead, 1928.
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Women's modesty generally increases with their beauty.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche -
Spite of all modesty, a man must own a pleasure in the hearing of his praise.
-- George Farquhar -
Strive not with your superiors in argument, but always submit your judgment to others with modesty.
-- George Washington -
We did not lack modesty—on the contrary—but something urgently drove us to defy modesty together as immodestly as possible.
-- Georges Bataille -
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It isn't false modesty when I say this, but although I am supposed to be a famous person it doesn't mean anything to me. I just sit at home and work.
-- Gyorgy Ligeti -
The earth is large and old enough to teach us modesty.
-- Hans Cloos -
Fidelity to conscience is inconsistent with retiring modesty. If it be so, let the modesty succumb. It can be only a false modesty which can be thus endangered.
-- Harriet Martineau -
I think that few people are aware how early it is right to respect the modesty of an infant.
-- Harriet Martineau -
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At least I have the modesty to admit that lack of modesty is one of my failings.
-- Hector Berlioz -
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The girl who chooses to be modest, chooses to be respected.
-- Howard W. Hunter -
Indecency in anything spoils it. And modesty in anything adorns it.
-- Ibn Majah -
Let your modesty be a sufficient incitement, yea, an exhortation to everyone to be at peace on their merely looking at you.
-- Ignatius Loyola -
Every young woman should dress well, that is, neatly, tastefully, modestly, whether she be rich or poor. Conspicuous dressing is vulgar. True refinement avoids anything showy and flashy: it never dresses better than it can afford, and yet it is always well dressed, even in simple muslin or plain calico.
-- J.R. Miller -
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And personally, I've lost my thirst for vengeance.
-- Janet Morris -
There is a false modesty, which is vanity; a false glory, which is levity; a false grandeur, which is meanness; a false virtue, which is hypocrisy, and a false wisdom, which is prudery.
-- Jean de la Bruyere -
Conjuring is a profession in which no one errs through excess of modesty.
-- Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin -
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We must watch over our modesty in the presence of those who cannot understand its grounds.
-- Jean Rostand -
I will not be modest. Humble, as much as you like, but not modest. Modesty is the virtue of the lukewarm.
-- Jean-Paul Sartre -
True it is that covetousness is rich, modesty starves.
-- John Milton -
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Modesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard to virtue.
-- Joseph Addison -
True modesty avoids everything that is criminal; false modesty everything that is unfashionable.
-- Joseph Addison -
Grace imitates modesty, as politeness imitates kindness.
-- Joseph Joubert -
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I had not yet acquired the experience which gives modesty.
-- Jules BretonSource : Jules Breton (1891). “The Life of an Artist: Art and Nature”
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It is easy for a somebody to be modest, but it is difficult to be modest when one is a nobody.
-- Jules Renard -
I don't think anyone who genuinely embraced sincerity, charity and modesty could be intolerant or divisive.
-- Julian BagginiSource : "Give me a reasonable believer over an uncompromising atheist any day" by Julian Baggini, www.theguardian.com. March 15, 2012.
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Bling is over. Red carpet covered with rhinestones is out. I call it 'the new modesty.'
-- Karl Lagerfeld -
Nothing is mine, I have only nothing but it is enough, it is beautiful and it is all mine. Do I even walk about in my own skin or is it something I have borrowed to spare my modesty?
-- Katherine Anne Porter -
In all modesty, we must admit that governments are not always the best doctors when it comes to diagnosing economic ailments and prescribing the right treatment.
-- Kim CampbellSource : Address at Progressive Conservative Brunch in Montreal, Quebec, www.canadahistory.com. August 22, 1993.
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Modesty in human beings is praised because it is not a matter of nature, but of will.
-- Lactantius -
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Modesty used to be considered a natural female attribute. No more.
-- Linda Chavez -
Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise.
-- Lord Chesterfield -
Modesty should be typical of the success of a champion.
-- Major TaylorSource : Major Taylor (1928). “The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World: The Story of a Colored Boy's Indomitable Courage and Success Against Great Odds; an Autobiography”
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He takes the greatest ornament from friendship, who takes modesty from it. [Lat., Maximum ornamentum amicitiae tollit, qui ex ea tollit verecudiam.]
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero -
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In connection with death, or birth, or love, modesty is only a rather puerile self-consciousness.
-- Margaret Deland -
How beautiful is modesty! It winneth upon all beholders; but a word or a glance may destroy the pure love that should have been for thee.
-- Martin Farquhar Tupper -
Inflation is lower and more stable and the real business cycle fluctuations are more modest.
-- Martin Feldstein -
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No modest man ever did or ever will make a fortune.
-- Mary Wortley Montagu -
In all modesty, my summing up of 1955-6 and 1956-7 must be that no club in the country could live with Manchester United.
-- Matt Busby -
None of the adults I knew ever touched in public, much less kneaded each others flesh.
-- Maureen Howard -
The delicate balance between modesty and conceit is popularity.
-- Max Beerbohm -
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I have no modesty. Modesty is a learned affectation. It's like decal stuck up on a person.
-- Maya Angelou -
You don't want modesty, you want humility. Humility comes from inside out. It says someone was here before me and I'm here because I've been paid for. I have something to do and I will do that because I'm paying for someone else who has yet to come.
-- Maya Angelou -
Genuine wisdom is usually conspicuous through modesty and silence.
-- Napoleon Hill -
Modesty seldom resides in a breast that is not enriched with nobler virtues.
-- Oliver Goldsmith -
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Modesty: the gentle art of enhancing your charm by pretending not to be aware of it.
-- Oliver Herford -
Larry Summers is to modesty what Madonna is to Chastity.
-- Paul GigotSource : "The World According to Larry" by Moises Naim, foreignpolicy.com. November 11, 2009.
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Avoid failing, not only against purity, but even against the least rules of an exact modesty.
-- Paul of the Cross -
Everything that is exquisite hides itself.
-- Philibert Joseph Roux -
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By the virtue of modesty the devout person governs all his exterior acts. With good reason, then, does St. Paul recommend this virtue to all and declare how necessary it is and as if this were not enough he considers that this virtue should be obvious to all.
-- Pio of Pietrelcina -
We lament, too, the destruction of purity among women and young girls as is evidenced by the increasing immodesty of their dress and conversation and by their participation in shameful dances.
-- Pope Pius XI -
The most insidious of sophisms are usually repeated to justify immodesty and seem to be the same everywhere.
-- Pope Pius XII -
Mainly through sins of impurity, do the forces of darkness subjugate souls.
-- Pope Pius XII -
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Modesty is the delicate form of hypocrisy.
-- Remy de Gourmont -
In all your movements, let nothing be evident that would offend the eyes of another.
-- Saint Augustine -
If modesty and candor are necessary to an author in his judgment of his own works, no less are they in his reader.
-- Sarah FieldingSource : Sarah Fielding (1986). “The cry (1754)”, Scholars Facsimilies & Reprint
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The thunder of false modesty was deafening.
-- Sebastian Faulks -
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Elizabeth lifted her skirt, disregarding modesty, and delivered a swift kick to the creature's head.
-- Seth Grahame-SmithSource : Jane Austen, Seth Grahame-Smith (2009). “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”, p.33, Quirk Books
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Sincerity is not a spontaneous flower nor is modesty either.
-- Sidonie Gabrielle Colette -
Modesty is the way you deal with beauty not the way you avoid it.
-- Tariq Ramadan -