"We first reach for a little humility, knowing that we shall perish of alcoholism if we do not. After a time, though we may still rebel somewhat, we commence to practice humility because this is the right thing to do. Then comes the day when, finally freed in large degree from rebellion, we practice humility because we deeply want it as a way of life." – Bill W.
"[T]hey only thought they had humbled themselves. But they had not learned enough humility, fearlessness and honesty, in the sense we find it necessary, until they had told someone else all their life story." – Big Book 
"The attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of AA’s Twelve Steps. For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all. Nearly all AA’s have found, too, that unless they develop much more of this precious quality than may be required for sobriety, they still haven’t much chance of becoming truly happy. Without it, they cannot live to much useful purpose, or, in adversity, be able to summon the faith that can meet any emergency.” – 12&12
"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” – Proverbs 11:2 
"As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you." – C. S. Lewis 
"If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, ‘He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.’" – Epictetus
"What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism." – Albert Einstein
"I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others." – Lao Tzu 
"The only wisdom we can hope to acquire / Is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless. / The houses are all gone under the sea. / The dancers are all gone under the hill.” – T. S. Eliot 
"Drop the idea that you are Atlas carrying the world on your shoulders. The world would go on even without you. Don't take yourself so seriously." – Norman Vincent Peale 
"[To] know oneself is, above all, to know what one lacks. It is to measure oneself against Truth, and not the other way around. The first product of self-knowledge is humility." – Flannery O’Connor
"Humility makes us free of—or allows us to tamp down—prideful self-sufficiency that might make us reluctant to seek help from others.” – W. Jay Wood, “Prudence,” Virtues and Their Vices
"Time and again I approached the 7th Step, only to fall back and regroup. Something was missing and the impact of the Step escaped me. What had I overlooked? A single word: read but ignored, the foundation of all the Steps, indeed the entire Alcoholics Anonymous program—that word is ‘humbly.’” – AA’s Daily Reflections 
"The word ‘humbly’ was one I never understood. It used to seem servile. Today it means seeing myself in true relation to my fellowman and to God.” – One Day at a Time in Al-Anon
"At the heart of each and every Step in the program, and of all the Traditions in the Fellowship, lies this virtue of humility. Working through surrender, the touchstone of the disciplines, humility leads the way to a spiritual awakening and a right relationship with God and our fellows." – PTP123 
"As a virtue, humility enables us to take the proper measure of ourselves. It enables us to see what we have become at a given stage of our development in relation to who we truly are as spiritual beings." – PTP4
For more PTP123 passages on humility, see, among others, "Humility and Humiliation," pp. 81–83, and “A Humble Admission,” pp. 84–87. For more PTP4, see, among others, humility and acceptance, 194, 249, 250, 366; and anonymity, 392; and emotional sobriety, 117, 437; and faith, 174; and freedom from fear, 170–172; and freedom from regret, 248–249; and freedom from shame, 222–223, 224; and grace, 73, 349, 393; and gratitude, 173, 174; and happiness, 367; and spiritual awakening, 118, 221; and surrender, 16; as corrective virtue, 29, 91, 405, 424; as virtue of omission, 403; courage born of, 172; desired for itself, 376; foundation principle of Steps, 392, 396; in self-examination, 5, 396, 407, 410; intellectual, 380; viewed as weakness, 336. On this site, click on PTP123 excerpt A Humble Admission. On PTP's YouTube channel, see Step 7, in 12&12 Audios & Videos, and The Scope of Humility and The Nature of Humility, in Character, Defect, & Virtue. For more Big Book and 12&12 passages, click on 164andmore.com and search humility and its cognates. See also entries in As Bill Sees It.
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