Humility sure doesn't get much press in our culture.

I seem to remember Nikos Kazantzakis' Saint Francis had some good passages on the topic. But it's been a decade since I read it.

It's such a tricky thing to nail down. I used to be quite interested in it, but often found that describing humility often slips into something that looks like "being down to earth" or even "having self-confidence."

I'm curious how you describe humility.

Also if you have any passage from the Dao that you found particularly good on it.

For me, it was Eckhart Tolle's books. "The Power of Now", and "A New Earth".

And the book "Awakening the Buddha Within" by Lama Surya Das.

But nothing builds humility more than science. Learning how the universe works, and how small you are in the grand scheme of things, is powerful. Thus, the books from Richard Dawkins, such as "The God Delusion" can be incredibly humbling. Nothing can be less humble than a belief in the supernatural.... especially a god belief.

The main thing that keeps me humble is receiving most of my pleasure when I get better at things.

The less I think of myself the easier that is, because then I don't have to fear falling from some pedestal, false or not.

The only confidence I let myself keep is that if I want to get better at something, I can.

I am

Check out some of the Buddhas stuff.

Etymology: humility early 14c., "quality of being humble," from Old French umelite "humility, modesty, sweetness" (Modern French humilité), from Latin humilitatem (nominative humilitas) "lowness, small stature; insignificance; baseness, littleness of mind," in Church Latin "meekness," from humilis "lowly, humble," literally "on the ground," from humus "earth"

Humility is a disposition, an attitude that arises chiefly from a constellation of intricate factors. Broadly speaking, it stems from a recognition of the world as an interconnected whole, in which every individual forms merely a part and every element serves its purpose. From this perspective, the folly of arrogance—of deeming oneself superior to others—becomes starkly apparent. Consider the liver: were it to proclaim its own supremacy over the heart or lungs and demand everything for itself, what havoc it would wreak. Humility, then, may be regarded as the outgrowth of a deeper comprehension of reality, expressed through human conduct. Yet it tends to fade once we fully grasp the context that envelops us; like all things, it fulfils a specific role. For this reason, it is not inherently a virtue. “It is just a ladder to climb and then be thrown away” (L. Wittgenstein-Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus).

Given that I regard humility as an attitude inherent to a journey, and thus a transient state, I should like to highlight the eminent figure of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff.....