Take Pride in Your Humility

"With people of only moderate ability modesty is mere honesty; but with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy." ~Arthur Schopenhauer

If we view humility as hypocrisy because we know of our achievements and we know the value of what we’ve done then that leads to arrogance and self-love. Too soon our thoughts of ourselves and our accomplishments make us smile and have excessive pride, which is called hubris. When you love yourself you are blinded by your own self-importance. There can be no room for love of anyone or anything else. You cannot see those around you for you have placed yourself above everyone. It will get lonely. When you believe yourself the giant so that others may stand on your shoulders then where will you stand (Based on Isaac Newton quote)? The giant is truly a conglomeration of ideas and theories from many great minds in history. Our ideas are all based on the ideas of others. It is called inspiration and genius cannot be created without it.

If we steadfastly refuse to value our achievements and become overly humble what does that say about ourselves? That we feel no worth for what we do? There is value in every soul so much so that we are all precious. Every mortal being has potential for greatness and servitude. In that way then we all should have confidence in our efforts and accomplishments. There are even those who put in more effort and will accomplish more. What about the man who cures cancer, saves the world, and kisses kittens? Should he be indecently modest? Should he take no pride in his hard work?

I feel that you should temper pride with prudence, confidence with humility, and victory with modesty. When a man has achieved great he should always ask “how could this have been done better” and “I would not have been able to do anything without these people”. Only then can he appreciate his work and value it for what it is but understand that he is not perfect and that others were vital to his goal. Now some may say that they do not feel their accomplishments are much of a source of pride so there is no reason to be humble. I ask another question “who decides the value of our actions?” Is it ourselves who choose or the affects our actions have on others? I prefer the latter. Our perceptions are always skewed and we contain an unfair bias in ourselves that makes us blind to even the littlest of achievements. It is this innocent modesty that is truly valuable. It is definitely admirable to realize your achievements and be able to suppress your inner pride and focus on external factors that led to that achievement. It is greater, however, to not even attribute the achievement as your success but yet another great event that all contributed to and could have failed but was successful instead.

And for those who strive for greatness but fall short…..”“The greatest humiliation in life, is to work hard on something from which you expect great appreciation, and then fail to get it” (Howe). This is the boat I find myself in. I have never been brought so fully back in myself than I have now. I will admit that I had become arrogant in a way. This subtle confidence crept up on me and not until I was brought to the bottom did I realize how far I fell. Now I simply accept my faults and errors and will gather the remains around me like a cloak as a symbol of my humility. I will wear it eagerly so that I might never forget where I come from and where I must go…..and how far the mighty may fall.

“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”

~Gandhi