"And this gay humility, this holding of ourselves lightly and yet ready for an infinity of unmerited triumphs, this secret is so simple that every one has supposed that it must be something quite sinister and mysterious. Humility is so practical a virtue that men think it must be a vice. Humility is so successful that it is mistaken for pride. It is mistaken for it all the more easily because it generally goes with a certain simple love of splendour which amounts to vanity. Humility will always, by preference, go clad in scarlet and gold; pride is that which refuses to let gold and scarlet impress it or please it too much."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Heretics_(book)
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Heretics (book)
111 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Heretics (book) →
Related Quotes
"I do not, therefore, say that the word "progress" is unmeaning; I say it is unmeaning without the previous definition…"
"There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person."
"He says, "Nothing endures, nothing is precise and certain (except the mind of a pedant).... Being indeed!—there is no…"
"A man can understand astronomy only by being an astronomer; he can understand entomology only by being an entomologis…"
"Whistler could produce art; and in so far he was a great man. But he could not forget art; and in so far he was only …"
"It is difficult to attain a high ideal; consequently, it is almost impossible to persuade ourselves that we have atta…"
"The word 'heresy' not only means no longer being wrong; it practically means being clear-headed and courageous. The w…"
"It is foolish, generally speaking, for a philosopher to set fire to another philosopher in Smithfield Market because …"
"At any innocent tea-table we may easily hear a man say, "Life is not worth living." We regard it as we regard the sta…"
"As enunciated today, 'progress' is simply a comparative of which we have not settled the superlative."