Two recent posts mentioned humbleness:
One was an entreaty to a member who got a well-deserved recognition: "Don't be humble. Your work is interesting and helpful to those in need."
Another was about Einstein: "Another remarkable difference from his self styed followers is his humbleness ..he is not beating chests about his knowledge."
I went and looked up the meaning. Turns out humility and humbleness are synonyms and mean:
(n.) An act of submission or courtesy.
(n.) The state or quality of being humble; freedom from pride and arrogance; lowliness of mind; a modest estimate of one's own worth; a sense of one's own unworthiness through imperfection and sinfulness; self-abasement;
What is humility? What does the term mean to you? What behavior makes you think "This person is humble, has humility" or "This person is arrogant, not humble"? Which is more annoying - an arrogant person or an overly humble person?
On Humility and Humbleness
On Humility and Humbleness
The quality fairly fascinated me, and I did some research and pondering:
Wikipedia: Humility, in various interpretations, is widely seen as a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, being connected with notions of transcendent unity with the universe or the divine, and of egolessness.
Is humility and humbleness a desirable trait? A necessary trait?
Is it more of an ?eastern? or ?Asian? quality?
Do people who R2I have to re-develop it if they lost it abroad? : )
Gandhiji said: "I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.?
Isn?t awareness of and touting one?s humility in itself a lack of humility?
Was Fran?s Duc de La Rochefoucauld on to something when he said ?Humility is the worst form of conceit??
Does humility apply more to life outside work? At work, humility can backfire?
Wikipedia: Humility, in various interpretations, is widely seen as a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, being connected with notions of transcendent unity with the universe or the divine, and of egolessness.
Is humility and humbleness a desirable trait? A necessary trait?
Is it more of an ?eastern? or ?Asian? quality?
Do people who R2I have to re-develop it if they lost it abroad? : )
Gandhiji said: "I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.?
Isn?t awareness of and touting one?s humility in itself a lack of humility?
Was Fran?s Duc de La Rochefoucauld on to something when he said ?Humility is the worst form of conceit??
Does humility apply more to life outside work? At work, humility can backfire?
On Humility and Humbleness
modus_vivendi;401171The quality fairly fascinated me, and I did some research and pondering:
Wikipedia: Humility, in various interpretations, is widely seen as a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, being connected with notions of transcendent unity with the universe or the divine, and of egolessness.
Is humility and humbleness a desirable trait? A necessary trait?
Is it more of an “eastern” or “Asian” quality?
Humility is neither an Asian trait, Nor is it just relegious. Communist Russia also promoted humility. Humility is a virtue in all older traditions/cultures.
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Gandhiji said: "I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”
[/quote]
I think Gandhiji used it in the sense that he tried to be truthful/honest in his life.
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Does humility apply more to life outside work? At work, humility can backfire?[/quote]
Gandhiji wore just a jatti and a towel. In his job as a freedom fighter, he fired his boss. Was his humility a handicap in his job in any way?
Humility is a loaded word. It can mean
(1) Being not arrogant
(2) As in #1, lowliness of mind.
If humility is taken as #1, it is a desirable trait. Showing one's worth should not be confused with being arrogant. Let us take the case of Gandhi himself.
He was simple, and unarrogant. Does it mean that he lied low? No. when he was in S. Africa he told the court that he will violate the law and go to jail umpteen times. Did he lie low from objecting to Netaji when he was elected president of INC? One can be unarrogant, still stake his claim of worthiness through his deeds.
On Humility and Humbleness
Sometimes submissiveness is also considered (may be incorrectly) humility. Remember (not too old) hindi saying - Majboori ka naam Mahatma Gandhi?!!? :)
On Humility and Humbleness
dixit;401187Sometimes submissiveness is also considered (may be incorrectly) humility. Remember (not too old) hindi saying - Majboori ka naam Mahatma Gandhi?!!? :)
Doesn?t majboori mean helplessness? I don?t think majboori has anything to do with humility.
[QUOTE]
Is humility and humbleness a desirable trait? A necessary trait?
I remember a wise member saying ?. : )
[QUOTE]
Is it more of an ?eastern? or ?Asian? quality?
Do people who R2I have to re-develop it if they lost it abroad? : )
I do not think it is eastern or Asian.
[QUOTE]
Does humility apply more to life outside work? At work, humility can backfire?At work humility is often called under-confidence. There is a fine line between humility and under confidence. Likewise, a fine line between (over)confidence and arrogance. Someone can be humble(at work/business) and still be confident about themselves. JMO :)
In general lack of humility or arrogance seems to be more annoying than extreme humbleness.
To me, a humble person does not brag about himself/herself and does not exhibit superiority over other around. :e
On Humility and Humbleness
Humility is in the eye of the beholder. If someone is humble all she wants, and nobody noticed, then what ? Leaving evidence of one's humility is a chore that can really make a person seem not so humble.
As has already been pointed out, humility is wide open to misinterpretation, and could have real consequences for the humble-in-the-wrong-place and/or with-the-wrong-crowd.
One youngster (I had talked to in desh) who had attended the IIM group interview likened it to the fish market. Candidates need to be heard without seeming shamefully aggressive and ill-mannered. Some would have the capacity to focus their noise much better for farther travel (so as to reach the observer panel) , while others' voices may diffuse at short distances. At the end of the day, it always turns out, when the meek claimed to have been humble, it is just sour grapes.
How much humility should one put out, and what are the standards for different venues and audiences is a question similar to how much is enough for R2I. It varies.
Elizabeth Bennet had recommended a right mixture of "pride" and "amiability", provided it becomes one.
As has already been pointed out, humility is wide open to misinterpretation, and could have real consequences for the humble-in-the-wrong-place and/or with-the-wrong-crowd.
One youngster (I had talked to in desh) who had attended the IIM group interview likened it to the fish market. Candidates need to be heard without seeming shamefully aggressive and ill-mannered. Some would have the capacity to focus their noise much better for farther travel (so as to reach the observer panel) , while others' voices may diffuse at short distances. At the end of the day, it always turns out, when the meek claimed to have been humble, it is just sour grapes.
How much humility should one put out, and what are the standards for different venues and audiences is a question similar to how much is enough for R2I. It varies.
Elizabeth Bennet had recommended a right mixture of "pride" and "amiability", provided it becomes one.
On Humility and Humbleness
Humility is like icing on the cake; good to have but not necessary. As long as the cake is rich and creamy it becomes delectable and one doesn’t care much about the icing.:)Knowledge accompanied by humility just makes it “easier to take” on the part of the receiver (perhaps by satisfying his/her ego to some extent)
Not being humble doesn’t necessarily mean one is arrogant. It can be just a mark of confidence/candidness without bothering about the niceties.
Lack of humility is better than faking modesty (different from self-deprecation, IMO) which has an air of superiority to it..
Not being humble doesn’t necessarily mean one is arrogant. It can be just a mark of confidence/candidness without bothering about the niceties.
Lack of humility is better than faking modesty (different from self-deprecation, IMO) which has an air of superiority to it..
On Humility and Humbleness
modus_vivendi;401171Was Fran?s Duc de La Rochefoucauld on to something when he said ?Humility is the worst form of conceit??[/quote]
Who is this Fran?s Duc de La Rochefoucauld? :)
I read on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_de_La_Rochefoucauld_(writer)):
[quote]The view of human conduct his writings describe has been summed up by the words "everything is reducible to the motive of self-interest,"[/quote]
I guess Humility or Humbleness is one such "thing" that is reducible to the motive of self-interest.
Now, let me go figure out the question "Why am I humble?". (before that, "Am I humble?") :)
On Humility and Humbleness
deteled...duplicate
On Humility and Humbleness
May I humbly state that #9 looks like a duplicate of #6? :)