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"O pity, great Father of light," then I cried,
" Thy creature who fain would not wander from Thee!
Lo, humbled in dust, I relinquish my pride;
From doubt and from darkness Thou only canst free."

— James Beattie

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Humility

More quotes by James Beattie

Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free;
Patient of toil, serene amidst alarms;
Inflexible in faith, invincible in arms.

The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)

Old age comes on apace to ravage all the clime.

The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)

To the pure soul by Fancy's fire refined,
Ah, what is mirth but turbulence unholy,
When with the charm compared of heavenly melancholy.

The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)

Wilt thou debase the heart which God refined?
No; let thy heaven-taught soul to heaven aspire,
To fancy, freedom, harmony, resigned;
Ambition's groveling crew forever left behind.

The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)

Ah, who can tell how hard it is to climb
The steep where Fame’s proud temple shines afar?

The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771)

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

Philip Massinger Duke of Milan (1623)

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

Jesus

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: James Beattie (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.