John Dryden Quotes

Let us be absolutely clear about one thing: we must not confuse humility with false modesty or servility.

Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.

Yes, I am proud, and very humble too.

Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble.

I would rather have honesty and character than prestige and wealth. I can walk and ride the streets of this city, hold my head up, and look all men in the face.

On the whole, it is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.

Mere bashfulness without merit is awkward; and merit without modesty, insolent. But modest merit has a double claim to acceptance, and generally meets with as many patrons as beholders.

Humility is the ability to give up your pride and still retain your dignity.

Modesty is my best quality.

Humility is no substitute for a good personality.

The only shame is to have none.

I don't think a man has to go around shouting and play-acting to prove he is something. And a real man don't go around putting other guys down, trampling their feelings in the dirt, making out they're nothing.

No age, sex, or condition is above or below the absolute necessity of modesty; but without it one is vastly beneath the rank of man.

The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is.

There is a solid satisfaction in one's having and being conscious that he merits the good opinion of men of true discernment and real worth. But to have a name among the weak and the wicked is shame and reproach.

I'm humble - I'll always be humble. I'll never change, that's just not me.

Personality-wise, I like to avoid putting my pride on parade.

I consider myself a very confident person, but I don't actually think I am big-headed because my confidence doesn't affect me.

humility is beyond our reach. if it were a product of reaching, we would instinctively be proud of reaching it. it is a gift.

To test a man's ego, simply ask him a complicated question. A good person will never be afraid to admit they don't know the answer to something. And only when a man has fully dismantled his ego, can he begin to be truly good.

The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean man has pride without a dignified ease.

Modesty is bred of self-reverence. Fine manners are the mantle of fair minds.

No one should feel pride in anything that is not his own.

Humbleness is always grace; always dignity