Adam Clarke Quotes

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

False modesty can be worse than arrogance.

A false modesty is the meanest species of pride.

Modesty is only arrogance by stealth.

We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones.

One may be humble out of pride.

With people of limited ability modesty is merely honesty. But with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy.

A man may be humble through vainglory.

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

The hardest tumble a man can make is to fall over his own bluff.

Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.

Don't be humble... you're not that great.

Humility is not my forte, and whenever I dwell for any length of time on my own shortcomings, they gradually begin to seem mild, harmless, rather engaging little things, not at all like the staring defects in other people's characters.

When somebody tells you they're not very smart, they're saying exactly the opposite.

The thing I hate most is false modesty. The artists who are, like, 'Oh, you know, I'm really not that good. Oh, I can't believe I'm here.' I find it vaguely sinister, even.

If the best man's faults were written on his forehead, he would draw his hat over his eyes.

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.'

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

I'm famously humble.

I don't like false modesty.

Many persons, when exalted, assume an insolent humility, who behaved before with an insolent haughtiness.

What is modesty but inverted pride?

Meekness is the mask of malice.

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?