Humility

I'm wild just like a rock, a stone, a tree
And I'm free, just like the wind the breeze that blows
And I flow, just like a brook, a stream, the rain
And I fly, just like a bird up in the sky
And I'll surely die, just like a flower plucked
And dragged away and thrown away
And then 1 day it turns to clay
—from Humble Mumble by Outkast (released March 2005)
The proof of spiritual maturity is not how pure you are but awareness of your impurity. That very awareness opens the door to grace.
—Phillip Yancey (contemporary author)

If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.
—C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)

If all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wildflowers.
—Teresa of Lisieux (1873-1897)

To one of the brethren appeared a devil, transformed into an angel of light, who said to him: I am the Angel Gabriel, and I have been sent to thee. But the Brother said: Think again—you must have been sent to somebody else. I haven't done anything to deserve an angel. Immediately the devil ceased to appear.
—4th century Egypt, from The Wisdom of the Desert

But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
—Jesus Christ (Matthew 23:12)

You rescue those who are humble, but you humiliate the proud.
—Psalm 18:27