As I prepared for this month’s Confetti for Your Brain column on humility, I came across a quote from Mahatma Ghandi that read, “It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom.”
As I read his words, I quickly realized my own thoughts concerning humility paled in comparison to what has already been said so eloquently by others.
For example, Margot Benary-Isbert gave excellent examples of how to live a humble life in her Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess. She wrote, in part,
“Keep me from becoming too talkative, and especially from the unfortunate habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject and at every opportunity.
Release me from the idea that I must straighten out other people’s affairs.
Keep me from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point.
Grant me the patience to listen to the complaints of others; help me to endure them with charity. But seal my lips on my own aches and pains — they increase with the increasing years and my inclination to recount them is also increasing.
I will not ask thee for improved memory, only for a little more humility and less self-assurance when my own memory doesn’t agree with that of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that I may occasionally be wrong.
Keep me reasonably gentle. I do not have the ambition to become a saint — it is so hard to live with some of them — but a harsh old person is one of the devil’s masterpieces.
Make me sympathetic without being sentimental, helpful but not bossy.
Let me discover merits where I had not expected them and talents in people I had not thought possessed any. And, Lord, give me the grace to tell them so.”
Mother Theresa explained, “To practice humility we must not want to manage other people’s affairs.” She reminded us all to “be kind and gentle even under provocation,” which is sage advice especially during this contentious political season.
Unfortunately, being humble can sometimes be misconstrued as being weak, but humility is a sign of internal strength. It takes fortitude to lift others up while not constantly promoting oneself. We must strive to find the balance between caring about others and caring about ourselves. Rick Warren put it into perspective in The Purpose Driven Life when he wrote, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”*
Ultimately, practicing humility is simply not taking yourself too seriously. In true Churchill fashion, the Prime Minister summed it up nicely when he said, “In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.”
Bon appétit!
*Note from the Editor: The original authorship of this quote is the subject of considerable controversy on the internet. It is usually attributed to either Rick Warren (2002) or C.S. Lewis (1952), but also to others including Rick Howard and Jamie Lash (1998).
