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Let me follow in Thy footsteps, O Jesus! I would imitate Thee, but cannot without the aid of Thy grace! O humble and lowly Saviour, grant me the knowledge of the true Christian, and that I may willingly despise myself; let me learn the lesson so incomprehensible to the mind of man, that I must die to myself by an abandonment that shall produce true humility.

— François Fénelon

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Humility

More quotes by François Fénelon

All the human kind is but one family, dispersed over the face of the whole earth; all men are brothers, and ought to love each other as such.

Les aventures de Télémaque (1699)

The good historian is not for any time or any country: while he loves his fatherland, he never flatters it in anything.

In general, those who govern children forgive nothing in them, but everything in themselves.

The presence of God calms the soul, and gives it quiet and repose.

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

Let us endeavor to commence every enterprise with a pure view to the glory of God, continue it without distraction, and finish it without impatience.

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

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Be wise;
Soar not too high, to fall; but stoop to rise.

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Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

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At very best, a person wrapped up in himself makes a small package.

Harry Emerson Fosdick On Being a Real Person (1943)

Modesty is an unnatural attitude, and one which is only with difficulty taught to children.

Isaac Asimov The Early Asimov Book Two (1972)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: François Fénelon (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.