William Shakespeare - John Kenneth Galbraith - Muhammad Ali - Roger Moore - Edith Sitwell - Joseph Addison - Oliver Goldsmith - Gustave Flaubert -
You do impeach your modesty too much. William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream II i 214, Demetrius to Helena
Suit the action to the word, and the word to the action; with this special observance, that you o’erstep not the modesty of nature. William Shakespeare, Hamlet III ii 18-19, Hamlet
Modesty is a vastly overrated virtue. John Kenneth Galbraith
I’m so modest I can admit my own fault. And my only fault is I don’t realise how great I am. Muhammad Ali, interview Harry Carpenter
Some are blessed with musical ability, others with good looks. Myself, I was blessed with modesty. Roger Moore
I have often wished I had time to cultivate modesty ... but I am too busy thinking about myself. Edith Sitwell
A just and reasonable modesty does not only recommend eloquence, but sets off every great talent which a man can be possessed of. It heightens all the virtues which it accompanies; like the shades in paintings, it raises and rounds every figure, and makes the colours more beautiful, though not so glaring as they would be without it. Joseph Addison, The Spectator 231 24 November 1711
True modesty avoids everything that is criminal; false modesty everything that is unfashionable. Joseph Addison, The Spectator 458 15 August 1712
Her modest looks the cottage might adorn,
Sweet as the primrose peeps beneath the thorn. Oliver Goldsmith, The Deserted Village l329, 1770
On the contrary, modesty seldom resides in a breast that is not enriched with nobler virtues. Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer I I, 1771
Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world. Gustave Flaubert