Humility is the quality of being humble. Dictionary definitions accentuate humility as low self-regard and sense of unworthiness. In a religious context humility can mean a recognition of self in relation to a deity (i.e. God), and subsequent submission to that deity as a member of that religion. Outside of a religious context, humility is defined as being "unselved"—liberated from consciousness of self—a form of temperance that is neither having pride (or haughtiness) nor indulging in self-deprecation.
Humility is an outward expression of an appropriate inner, or self regard, and is contrasted with humiliation which is an imposition, often external, of shame upon a person. Humility may be misappropriated as ability to suffer humiliation through self-denouncements which remains focused on self rather than being low in self-focus.
Humility, in many religious and philosophical traditions, is seen as a virtue which centers on low self-preoccupation, or unwillingness to put oneself forward. It contrasts with narcissism, hubris, and other forms of pride and is an idealistic and rare intrinsic construct that has an extrinsic side.
Term
The term "humility" comes from the Latin word , a noun related to the adjective , which may be translated as "humble", but also as "grounded", or "from the earth", since it derives from (earth). See the English humus.
The word "humble" may be related to feudal England where the least-valuable cuts of meat, or "umbles" (whatever was left over when the upper classes had taken their parts), were provided to the lowest class of citizen.
Mythology
Aidos, in Greek mythology, was the (goddess) of shyness, shame, and humility. She was the quality that restrained human beings from wrong.
Religious views of humility
Abrahamic
Judaism
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks states that in Judaism humility is an appreciation of oneself, one's talents, skills, and virtues. It is not meekness or self-deprecating thought, but the effacing of oneself to something higher. Humility is not to think lowly of oneself, but to appreciate the self one has received. In recognition of the mysteries and complexities of life, one becomes humbled to the awesomeness of what one is and what one can achieve.
Rabbi Pini Dunner discusses that humility is to place others first; it is to appreciate others' worth as important. In recognizing our worth as people, Rabbi Dunner shows that looking into the zillions of stars in the sky, and in the length and history of time, you and I are insignificant, like dust. Rabbi Dunner states that Moses wrote in the Torah, "And Moses was exceedingly humble, more than any man on the face of the earth"(). How is it possible to be humble and write you are the most humble? The conclusion is that Moses knew he was humble. It is not in denial of your talents and gifts but to recognize them and live up to your worth and something greater. It is in the service to others that is the greatest form of humility.
Amongst the benefits of humility described in the Hebrew Bible, that is shared by many faiths, are honor, wisdom, prosperity, the protection of the Lord, and peace. In addition, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" ().
Christianity
New Testament exhortations to humility are found in many places, for example "Blessed are the meek" (), "He who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (), as well as () and throughout the Book of James. Also Jesus Christ's behavior in general, and submission to unjust torture and execution in particular, are held up as examples of righteous humility: "Who, when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not: but delivered himself to him that judged him justly" ().
C.S. Lewis writes, in Mere Christianity, that pride is the "anti-God" state, the position in which the ego and the self are directly opposed to God: "Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind." In contrast, Lewis contends that in Christian moral teaching the opposite of pride is humility. This is popularly illustrated by a phrase wrongly attributed to Lewis, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less." This is an apparent paraphrase, by Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life, of a passage found in Mere Christianity: Lewis writes, regarding the truly humble man,