Quotes about modesty

Modesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard to virtue.

— Joseph Addison

Conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long; even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of all power is modesty.

— Louisa May Alcott

Modesty is the conscience of the body.

— Honore De Balzac

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

— Bruce Barton

He seems determined to make a trumpet sound like a tin whistle.

— Aneurin Bevan

A vain man finds it wise to speak good or ill of himself; a modest man does not talk of himself.

— Jean De La Bruyere

She just wore enough for modesty; no more!

— Robert Buchanan

Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise.

— Lord Chesterfield

He is a modest little man who has a good deal to be modest about.

— Winston Churchill

That is the consolation of a little mind; you have the fun of changing it without impeding the progress of mankind.

— Frank Moore Colby

Modesty is the color of virtue.

— Diogenes of Sinope

If there is anybody in this land who thoroughly believes that the meek shall inherit the earth they have not often let their presence be known.

— William E. B. Du Bois

To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.

— Benjamin Franklin

I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires.

— Kahlil Gibran

Modesty is the chastity of merit, the virginity of noble souls.

— Madame de Girardin

Modesty seldom resides in a breast that is not enriched with nobler virtues.

— Oliver Goldsmith

Modesty is the lowest of the virtues, and is a real confession of the deficiency it indicates. He who undervalues himself is justly undervalued by others.

— William Hazlitt

No truly great person ever thought themselves so.

— William Hazlitt

I don't like to write like God. It is only because you never do it, though, that the critics think you can't do it.

— Ernest Hemingway

Modesty; the gentle art of enhancing your charm by pretending not to be aware of it.

— Oliver Herford

Usually the modest person passes for someone reserved, the silent for a sullen person

— Horace

The modest person is usually admired, if people ever hear of them.

— Edgar Watson Howe

Great things happen in small places. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jesse Jackson was born in Greenville.

— Jesse Jackson

Ornaments were invented by modesty.

— Joseph Joubert

So rare is the union of beauty with modesty.

— (Decimus Junius Juvenalis) Juvenal

The height of cleverness is being able to conceal it.

— Francois De La Rochefoucauld

Always remember when you are on top of the world , that the earth rotates every 24 hrs.

— Steve G. Makris

Because impudence is a vice, it does not follow that modesty is a virtue; it is built upon shame, a passion in our nature, and may be either good or bad according to the actions performed from that motive.

— Bernard Mandeville

It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help

— Miss Manners

Fidelity to conscience is inconsistent with retiring modesty. If it be so, let the modesty succumb. It can be only a false modesty which can be thus endangered.

— Harriet Martineau

Be smart, but never show it.

— Louis B Mayer

Be plain in dress, and sober in your diet; In short, my dear, kiss me and be quiet.

— Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

No modest man ever did or ever will make a fortune.

— Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Modesty is the beauty of women.

— Gaelic Proverb

Do not make yourself so big, you are not so small.

— Jewish Proverb

We must watch over our modesty in the presence of those who cannot understand its grounds.

— Jean Rostand

Although modesty is natural to man, it is not natural to children. Modesty only begins with the knowledge of evil.

— Jean Jacques Rousseau

Modesty forbids what the law does not.

— Seneca

Lord Bacon told Sir Edward Coke when he was boasting, The less you speak of your greatness, the more shall I think of it.

— William Shakespeare

We wound our modesty and make foul the clearness of our deservings, when of ourselves we publish them.

— William Shakespeare

Modesty is a quality in a lover more praised by the women than liked.

— Richard Brinsley Sheridan

I have often wished I had time to cultivate modesty. But I am too busy thinking about myself.

— Dame Edith Sitwell

Nothing can atone for the lack of modesty; without which beauty is ungraceful and wit detestable.

— Sir Richard Steele

There's a lot to be said for the fellow who doesn't say it himself.

— Maurice Switzer

When a woman has lost her chastity she will shrink from nothing.

— Publius Cornelius Tacitus

The man who is ostentatious of his modesty is twin to the statue that wears a fig-leaf.

— Mark Twain

Act as though you cannot fail but keep a humble spirit.

— Source Unknown

It's always well to be the smartest thinker, but is won't get you very far unless you're the plainest talker.

— Source Unknown