(161 quotes found)
“Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise.”
William Shakespeare
“Be modest! It is the kind of pride least likely to offend.”
Jules Renard
“In peace there's nothing so becomes a manAs modest stillness and humility;But when the blast of war blows in our ears,Then imitate the action of the tiger:Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;Now set the teeth, and stretch the nostril wide,Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spiritTo his full height!”
“I was born modest; not all over, but in spots.”
Mark Twain
“Implied / Subjection, but required with gentle sway / And by her yielded, by him best received; / Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, / And sweet reluctant amorous delay.”
John Milton
“Nobody who takes on anything big and tough can afford to be modest.”
Orson Welles
“What can we dobut keep on breathing in and out,modest and willing, and in our places?”
Mary Oliver
“I will name you the degrees. The first, the Retort Courteous; the second, the Quip Modest; the third, the Reply Churlish; the fourth, the Reproof Valiant; the fifth, the Countercheck Quarrelsome; the sixth, the Lie with Circumstance; the seventh, the Lie Direct.”
“It is easy for a somebody to be modest, but it is difficult to be modest when one is a nobody”
“He wove a great web of knowledge, linking everything together, and sat modestly at a switchboard at the center, eager to help.”
Walter Kerr
