Humility is not thinking less of yourself: What is the meaning of humility? Do we often confuse the meaning with the social implication of not appearing arrogant or being friendly? In this article, we discuss the meaning of humility as not thinking less of yourself. We will also talk through the implications of faking modesty and the wrong representations of humility to gain social acceptance.
Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less
C.S.Lewis
The meaning of humility is in being open and accepting of our strengths, limitations and faults equally. It is also about being respectful and acknowledging that our knowledge, experience has gaps and finding a way to serve a cause rather than being naively overconfident.
C.S.Lewis Humility Quote
This quote – humility is not thinking less of yourself is attributed to C.S. Lewis. There is a debate which says this quote was said by Rick Warren. However, for the purpose of this article, we will classify this as a C.S. Lewis humility quote and move forward to understand the meaning of humility and its impact on our life.
The meaning of humility is – having a modest or low view of one’s importance. I’ve seen people use humility and modesty as an excuse to appear well in society. However, that defeats the purpose and meaning of this quote by C.S.Lewis. Humility is internal, it is what we feel about ourselves and our abilities. Instead, if it is tainted with how we appear in the society, it becomes an external metric which is easily adulterated.
Meaning of Humility is not thinking less of yourself
C.S.Lewis quote on humility asks us to question what humility means to us. There are different elements to this quote, however the main meaning centres around what we think about ourselves and the fake modesty that sometimes we show to the society. The meaning of this quote however is in accepting our limitations and strengths but finding a way to move forward. We will never be perfect, nor have all the answers. So, what’s the point in pretending or being overconfident about our abilities. Instead, we need to focus on the work in front of us and find the best way to do it. Everything else is indeed waste of time.
The meaning of humility is not in thinking less of yourself can be summarised in these points:
- Humility is not about devaluing ourselves and playing down our achievements
- It is about being realistic about who we are and accepting our weaknesses and strengths as a matter of fact
- Being humble also means being open to learning from others and respectful of their opinions, thoughts and experiences
- Respect that everyone has their challenges, and views and be kind about these challenges and views
- Not being overtly focused on own achievements and brag about them continuously
Thinking less of yourself meaning
What does thinking less of yourself mean? It directly points to the conversations around low self-esteem, lack of confidence etc. Somehow people around us make us feel that we should downplay our strengths and achievements to appear less arrogant. However, these values are internal. Just saying less about what we do is not humility. Humility is internal, it is about what we think about ourselves without compromising our confidence.
Thinking less of yourself means:
- Having a negative mindset and a lesser view of what you are and capable of
- Low self esteem and lack of self confidence in life
- Comparing with others and finding gaps
- Self doubt and led by fear to take on new challenges
In summary, thinking less of yourself is not only questioning your current state but also what you think your future will be. If we limit our thinking, it directly impacts our possibilities and hence our results too. Humility is sometimes misunderstood as downplaying our achievements. We can’t fall into this trap – instead we have to find a way to be proud of our achievements and yet acknowledge our shortcomings. Life is about continuous improvement and being in the journey to mastery. It doesn’t stop at a few results. Our humility should drive us forward to create new goals and outcomes to serve the cause that we are close to.
Never think less of yourself quotes
Here are a few quotes that convey the message to never think less of yourself. It is easy to fall into this trap, but you have to find a way to come out of this and lead your life with passion, desire and confidence.
You are beautiful and amazing, never think less of yourself
The trick is to think highly of yourself without thinking you’re higher than everyone else – Ed Latimore
I know for sure what we dwell on is what we become – Oprah Winfrey
Let go of who you think you are supposed to be and embrace who you are – Brene Brown
Never think less of yourself quotes
References:
Meaning of humility: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humility
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beautiful post. It brought me so much clarity.
This one has always been my fav. Sadly, in today’s world, the creaking wheels get oil and the blowing trumpets get attention. The modest and the humble get elbowed aside.
Simple and powerful. Bravo!
Thank you Shamsud :)
Very well explained.
Just to add to this, I would like to talk about a phrase which Uncle Bala (Dr Bala Balachandran, our Dean at Great Lakes Institute of Management) often says “Ability with humility”.
One can be super-talented, but without humility all that is hollow. On the extreme end, one can be super-humble, but without talent and ability to complement it, there is no point behind such humility, that is weakness, as Swami Vivekananda says.
IMHO, to be truly humble, as opposed to fake modesty, we must go back to our Indian roots of absolute duty orientation (karma yoga).
Thanks!
Subhodeep
Thank you Subhodeep :) . I couldn’t agree more mate, humility is a life skill whereas talent is just talent and it needs a lot more than that to be successful in life and also the ability to recognise and learn from the success of others and draw inspiration from it instead of feeling insecure. I have been an eternal fan of karma yoga, esp from the time I read Vivekananda’s rendition of it. It is one book that should be read!
Humility is hard to find these days.
I would like to think it is out there Kashpal, Maybe in small pockets, maybe in instances but it is out there. Just need to be there more consistently and that makes all the difference.
Wonderful! Nicely put the real definition of Humility. And as always the meaning is so well explained, like every other terms in your blog. Love to be here and get motivation right from the beginning of my day :) Thank you Vinay
Thank you Tara, these words mean a lot to me and I would consider it a real honour if the words and thoughts expressed over this site can be part of your daily activities. It is one goal we are constantly thriving at and to know it can make a difference makes us humbly proud indeed :)
Very well brought out with two words interchanged ..humility is such a rare quality these days!
Thank you Sunita. Without doubt, I absolutely loved this quote, so much of depth and character to it..
Yet another great explanation Vinay! :)
Thank you Sahaj :)
Such a simple thought with easy application. And to think most of us get it wrong due to line up of word ‘less’ :)
Thank you Richa :). He he its in just one word, one very simple word :)
This is so wisely explained by you Vinay.. never thought this way that a mere word play of ‘of’ and ‘about’ could create such a drastic impact with myriad emotions.
Thank you Maitreni, I have a new habit now, to kinda look forward to your thoughts on the post. It makes us feel more connected and more real when we write about these things and to know that they can evoke a thought is quite a great feeling indeed :)