Michael Johnson Quotes

I have a healthy amount of humility.

If I'm too cocky or too arrogant, it's like, 'Ugh.' But if you're too on the other side, you take away some of those other emotional aspects, and I just kinda like to have a balance.

May exalting and humanizing thoughts forever accompany me, making me confident without pride, and modest without servility.

Success is born out of arrogance, but greatness comes from humility.

Confidence is essential, but ego is not.

I did not have any delusions of grandeur as a kid.

The only way to get under me is to get over yourself.

The awareness of our own strength makes us modest.

I'm quite modest. I don't want to tell people I'm a leader.

I have as big of an ego as it gets, but I have, stunningly, a lot of humility considering some of the accomplishments I've had.

I had it in my mind: to be confident, and to keep saying that until the confidence appeared. But I took it too far. Confidence did help make me champion, but, man, I took it to a whole different level. I was a megalomaniac. I was not humble and it eventually came back on me. So I want my kids to know, keep humbleness and kindness in their hearts. It will prevail.

It's not vanity to know your own good points. It would just be stupidity if you didn't; It's only vanity when you get puffed up about them.

I think that enjoying the fruits of one's labor is very different than arrogance. And when I was younger, I didn't know the difference. I thought that if you were gracious, that meant that you somehow were getting ahead of yourself. And I felt self-deprecation kept you balanced.

Blessed the geniuses who know / that egomania is not a duty.

My dad always had this little sign on his desk: 'The bigger your head is, the easier your shoes are to fill'. He really drilled that in.

When you're working with music that is invariably better than you are, it's difficult to become swell-headed.

You're all right, as long as you don't believe your own hype.

I don't wake up each morning saying, 'Oh, wow, it's me. I think I'm the cat's meow. I'm the best.'

I realize I can never take my success for granted. It's not attractive for anyone to be like that.

It's a fine thing to rise above pride, but you must have pride in order to do so.

You can get a bit 'head in the clouds' - well, I do - and full of myself if I stick in front of the camera for too long. I forget there is hard work that needs to be done.

I am no more humble than my talents require.

You need ego but mine is not blinding.

I'd rather stay out of the limelight until I've done something I feel proud of.

I said I was 'The Greatest,' I never said I was the smartest!