The belief that men don’t need help is part of the problem.

For what is modesty but hypocritical humility, by means of which, in a world swelling with vile envy, a man seeks to beg pardon for his excellences and merits from those who have none? For whoever attributes no merit to himself because he really has none is not modest, but merely honest.

Modesty is a learned adaptation. It’s stuck on like decals. As soon as life slams a modest person against the wall, that modesty will fall off faster than a G-string will fall off a stripper.

I will not be modest. Humble, as much as you like, but not modest. Modesty is the virtue of the lukewarm.

You don’t want modesty, you want humility. Humility comes from inside out. It says someone was here before me and I’m here because I’ve been paid for. I have something to do and I will do that because I’m paying for someone else who has yet to come.

On their own merits modest men are dumb.

No age, sex, or condition is above or below the absolute necessity of modesty; but without it one is vastly beneath the rank of man.

He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.

A man is not independent unless he has the courage to stand alone.

People always love expressing themselves, and they often pretend to be modest in their words, saying that they are no good at this or that. This is particularly common among friends. But even if people are actually modest, there is no benefit to their behavior.

Again he was asked, ‘How can a man acquire humility?’

A modest man is steady, an humble man timid, and a vain one presumptuous.