Francois de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

Humility is often merely feigned submissiveness assumed in order to subject others, an artifice of pride which stoops to conquer, and although pride has a thousand ways of transforming itself it is never so well disguised and able to take people in as when masquerading as humility.

Humility is often only a feigned submissiveness by which men hope to bring other people to submit to them; it is a more calculated sort of pride.

Humility is often only the putting on of a submissiveness by which men hope to bring other people to submit to them; it is a morecalculated sort of pride, which debases itself with a design of being exalted; and though this vice transform itself into a thousand several shapes, yet the disguise is never more effectual nor more capable of deceiving the world than when concealed under a form of humility.

Pride works frequently under a dense mask, and will often assume the garb of humility.

What hypocrites we seem to be whenever we talk of ourselves! Our words sound so humble, while our hearts are so proud.

There's a breed of humility which is itself a species of showing off.

I don't like false modesty.

Humility is often a false front we employ to gain power over others.

It is one of the triumphs of human wit ... to conquer by humility and submissiveness ... to make oneself small in order to appear great ... such ... are often the expedients of the neurotic.

A man may be humble through vainglory.

A false modesty is the meanest species of pride.

And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.

Where do you draw the line between a humble man who knows his own weaknesses but tries to act out virtues he hasn't quite mastered yet, and a proud man who pretends to have those virtues without the slightest intention of acquiring them?

Modesty is only arrogance by stealth.

We are never, never so much in danger of being proud as when we think we are humble.

I really do not see much use in exalting the humble and meek; they do not remain humble and meek long when they are exalted.

He who says he hates every kind of flattery, and says it in earnest, certainly does not yet know every kind of flattery.

False modesty can be worse than arrogance.

Disobedience is essentially a prideful power struggle against someone in authority over us. It can be a parent, a priesthood leader, a teacher, or ultimately God. A proud person hates the fact that someone is above him. He thinks this lowers his position.

Those who are believed to be most abject and humble are usually most ambitious and envious.

Pride perceiving humility honorable, often borrows her cloak.

You're taught from a very young age that you shouldn't get too big for your britches, so I tend to err way too much on the side of 'Nothing means anything.'

Deceive the rich and powerful if you will, but don't insult them.

Among the several cloudy appellatives which have been commonly employed as cloaks for misgovernment, there is none more conspicuous in this atmosphere of illusion than the word Order.