ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

I have finally managed to find time to write about this.  I am sorry for the delay of this article.  This is my reflection on an incident that occurred at another forum a month ago.    

It is a sad phenomenon that humility is hardly valued and found in current society, either in the East or in the West.  Even when you do see humility, it is often faked humility that you see.  How can it be true modesty when camouflaged with meretricious sincerity?    

Humility is often seen as a weakness, while arrogance, a strength.  Showing humility is viewed as revealing one’s vulnerability.  Thus, aggressiveness armed with insolence is valued and employed to shield one’s low self-esteem. 

Is humility about losing our pride and the aggressiveness needed in achieving our accomplishments?  I see humility as a confidence in our ability.  Many great leaders in the history practiced humility.  They treated people with respect.  They upheld integrity.  They were unpretentious.  All these are character traits of great people, while the antithesis of which are impudence, overbearance and egomaniac. 

How hard could it be to be unpretentious?  Sometimes one’s pride is so high that it is hard to swallow.  However, have you thought of taking a step back?  Maybe taking a step back will help you to come to terms with yourself and open up a world of opportunities. 

Is saving face so important to stay on the wrong path?  At the heat of the debate, why don’t you stop for a moment and try listening instead.  Cool yourself down and clear your head.  What exactly are you trying to convey?  Think of what Mohandas Gandhi once said, “It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom.  It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”  Think again of another quote from Gandhi, “I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal.  I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and retrace my steps.”  That is why Gandhi is such a great man.  He was modest enough to admit his errors and he was clever enough to know if he did something wrong.

Isn’t it true as Oscar Wilde put it, “You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know”?

** 版權所有 – Elisa English