Quote Atlassourced quotes & context
Source identified
When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
Read & copy the quotation
“When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.”

King James Bible

Download image (JPG)

Source
King James Bible — Proverbs 11:2
Date
1611
English wording
King James Version translation committees · from Biblical Hebrew / Aramaic / Koine Greek
Meaning

Meaning of “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with…”

Pride is linked with poor judgment while humility is linked with wisdom, suggesting that accurate self-estimation improves decision making.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Proverbs 11:2 in the King James Version.

Primary / edition source ↗

Customize your imageTen designs · Square or portrait · Preview and share
Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

HumilityIntegrityShortWisdom Quotes About Judgment & Living WellCharacterEgoPride
Related quotations

Continue through nearby ideas

Source identified
I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility.
Read & copy

“I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility.”

John Ruskin · Modern Painters, Volume III · 1856
Meaning & context

Ruskin defines greatness without self-worship: genuine ability can be recognized accurately while still being held inside a larger sense of proportion, dependence and responsibility.

Source details

Modern Painters, Volume III, Part IV, Chapter XVI, “Of Modern Landscape,” section 24, printed page 260, Project Gutenberg #38923. Ruskin calls humility the first test of a truly great man, then immediately distinguishes humility from doubting one’s real power or hesitating about one’s opinions; his point is proportion, not self-denial. This is Victorian art criticism and moral reflection, not modern clinical or psychological evidence about humility.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride.
Read & copy

“In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride.”

Benjamin Franklin · Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin · 1771–1790 composition
Meaning & context

Franklin treats humility as a continuing discipline rather than a completed achievement: pride is difficult precisely because it can survive attempts to suppress it and can even attach itself to the appearance of modesty.

Source details

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Part II, Humility discussion near the close of the Passy 1784 continuation. Franklin reflects that pride survives attempts to suppress it and can attach itself even to apparent humility; the reviewed direct locator is Wikisource Section Thirty Nine.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
A sensible polite person does not assume to be better or wiser or richer than his neighbour.
Read & copy

“A sensible polite person does not assume to be better or wiser or richer than his neighbour.”

Samuel Smiles · Character · 1871
Meaning & context

Smiles connects humility with ordinary social behavior: modest conduct resists turning differences in knowledge, wealth, rank or achievement into claims of personal superiority over other people.

Source details

Character, Chapter IX, “Manner—Art,” Project Gutenberg #2541. Smiles places the sentence in his discussion of politeness as respect for the personality and circumstances of others, then describes the well-mannered person as modest, unpretentious and more interested in doing than boasting.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
Discourses on humility give occasion for pride to the boastful, and for humility to the humble.
Read & copy

“Discourses on humility give occasion for pride to the boastful, and for humility to the humble.”

Blaise Pascal · The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal · 1670 posthumous
Meaning & context

Pascal points to a self-referential danger: even learning or speaking about humility can become another stage for vanity unless a person is willing to examine the motives behind the performance.

Source details

The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal, C. Kegan Paul translation, Project Gutenberg #46921. The next sentence extends the paradox by observing how difficult it is to speak humbly about humility.

↓ Download image (JPG)