Is humility a good thing?
Is it the appearance of humility that is admired?
I’ve always admired genuine humility. I find people likeable who play down their contribution to something good, people who don’t blow their own trumpet.
Conversely I despise people who take credit where it’s not due. Where the real work has been done by those behind the scenes or at the bottom of the ladder. And people who think they’re god’s gift to what they do. Like other people should feel priviliged to be in their presence.
I like people who understand their rightful insignificance in the grand scheme of things… You are one more human, there are six billion of them and there have lived many billions more, your life span is a blip in a blip.
Bein’ humble is just part of Keepin’ It Real, yo.
Think you’re really righteous?
Think you’re pure of heart?
Well I know that I’m a million times as humble as thou art!
I’m the pious guy the little Amlettes wanna be like,
On my knees day and night,
Scorin’ points for the afterlife.
My understanding of humbleness is that it’s the belief that you are no more important or no better than your fellow human beings. I think that’s a pretty good trait to have.
Each of us has our own talents, but I doubt that any of us is better at everything than all of us.
Well, it made sense when I typed it.
What are your thoughts, OP?
Just heading out the door. 
I think that genuine humility is a good thing, for the individual and for others.
I think genuine humility is a much underrated virtue . . . and a rare one. As a student in Korea I had the value of humility hammered into me, but it was a false humility, the kind that makes you answer the question, “How well did you do on your tests?” with a “Oh, I did terribly,” when in actuality you got an A. :rolleyes: Having been brought up in the US, my tendency to answer such questions honestly (“Oh, I did better than I thought I would.”) caused me to be labeled as arrogant.
Genuine humility, to me, is first and foremost honest. It acknowledges the value of what you’ve done, or what you can do, while keeping you from believing that your achievements somehow set you above the rest of humankind.
That depends on what you mean by humility, and yes. As HazelNutCoffee points out, shows of humility in cultures that values them can just be another form of social aggression, a way of grinding one’s supposed virtue in someone else’s face.
As for actual humility, only if you mean “a lack of overweening pride” by humility. Too much humility just makes you a victim, unwilling to stand up for yourself. Like most personal qualities, it’s the middle point that’s best.
Honestly, I find doing that foolish, or even destructive. If you don’t take credit for what you’ve done, you probably won’t GET credit. That means that the people who DO take the credit ( and someone will ) will get the rewards, promotions, power, influence, and reputation. Refusing to take the credit lets frauds and manipulators and similar parasites flourish.
And personally, I find humble people irritating. Depending on how much they seem to mean it, they either strike me as dishonest, or make my skin crawl from the self-destructiveness of it all.
So, IMHO, you should take the credit for what you’ve done. It’s both the self interested and virtuous thing to do, I think.
It’s my impression that real humility isn’t obvious. You don’t know that someone is humble, because they’re never going to tell you–when they do, that’s not humble. It’s believing that other people are just as important and interesting as you are–which almost no one really believes deep down inside. It’s valuing your own accomplishments as much as you value anyone else’s–according to their true value, and not because they’re yours or someone else’s.
Someone who is humble doesn’t tell you that you are better than he is. Nor does he tell you that he’s better than you. He’s not thinking about it.
“I’m a thousand times more humble than thou art !”, from a Weird Al Yankovic song.
It’s a favorite of mine.
" The meek shall inherit the Earth."
“Those who are first shall be last and those who are last shall be first.”
I’d say that in everyday life the appearance of being humble is what counts. Nobody likes somebody who just up and takes their accolades; people appreciate it when those who succeed stoop to acknowledging them, even when they don’t deserve it.
Well, I know it is hip to be square.
But I got nuttin on being humble.
There’s some good responses to this interesting question.
IMHO, not only is it cool to be humble, it’s ridiculously nauseating to be arrogant. Personally, I can’t stand arrogant people. It makes me want to cut them off at the knees (metaphorically speaking). When you’re humble, you’re teachable. When you’re arrogant, you know (nothing) it all.
To me, humbleness doesn’t mean you think poorly of yourself, just that you’re on the same level as everyone else and no better. A humble is more apt to help others because they don’t put themselves first, don’t you think?
I agree. The word *humble * has some negative connotations, but I’m interested primarily in this meaning: “not arrogant and not boastful”, which I think is considered to be a good thing.
In some ways, *humble * is like cool: Both words have multiple meanings, some of which are positive, some negative. Also, *cool * in the physical sense is the absence of heat rather than the presence of “coolness”. Likewise, humility is the absence of arrogance, and, therefore, is manifested more by what a person *doesn’t do * rather than by what he does.
In any case, it seems to me that it’s trendy to be humble: Celebrities receiving an award often say something about being “humbled” by the honor. Likewise, it seems that sports stars have been advised by their agents and PR managers that the perception of arrogance will interfere with their career and endorsement opportunities.
Anyone else noticed this?
I find it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.
I think you can be humble be also acknowledging that you have done something correctly, but ensuring that those around you get the credit. It doesn’t mean that you see yourself as being just the equal of everyone else. I agree that arrogance, and stealing of someone elses credit stinks.
I definitely admire (and am attracted to) true humility. When people are boastful or arrogant I tend to take them less seriously–unless they are also mean, in which case they terrify me.
I would kill to think more highly of myself, so in my ‘‘haha, what an arrogant twat’’ reaction I have to admit there is also jealousy. I wonder what it would be like to just assume you were awesome instead of second-guessing every little thing you ever said or did? I think this is why I can’t be genuinely angry or resentful. I have some friends with jaw-dropping levels of narcissism, but they obviously have more redeeming qualities and in a way I’ve always admired them for their complete lack of self-doubt.
It is interesting how the value of humility has changed over time. I remember reading Beowolf in high school, and how the general cultural more there was that it’s okay to be an arrogant asshole as long as you could back up your claims. (That is in no way meant to be a plug for Beowolf. I freakin’ HATED that book.)
The subject of arrogance, and why in today’s society it is generally viewed as a negative thing, is one of great interest to me.
The problem is that almost nobody recognizes such a thing as a middle ground that allows people to claim credit where credit is due without being labelled arrogant. As one of the posters at despair.com says “The problem with being better than everybody else is that people tend to assume you’re pretentious”. Obviously the line is exaggerated and in jest the way it’s phrased, but I personally hate it when people hold it against people for being successful and not being shy about being successful, and automatically putting them all the way in the “arrogant” category, primarily due to jealousy.
Yes, and also when they view others as falsely modest. For example, when I was in school, I was (and will continue to be, when I return to school) a perfectionist about my grades. Now I am a perfectionist about my job. It never occurs to me that people don’t understand the real torture of perfectionism until they make some snarky comment about how I ‘‘know’’ I’m going to do fine and am just being falsely modest. I don’t fucking know, that’s why I worry about it!