Anyone who wants to be pope doesn’t care much for themselves, God doesn’t bless them. I didn’t want to be pope.

The chimpanzee study was – well, it’s still going on, and I think it’s taught us perhaps more than anything else to be a little humble; that we are, indeed, unique primates, we humans, but we’re simply not as different from the rest of the animal kingdom as we used to think.

I feel much freer now that I am certain the pope is the Antichrist.

A great man is always willing to be little.

Any top-level athlete, it’s always the same. There’s always that hint of arrogance there… It’s hard to be humble when you’re the best.

To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.

I said I was ‚The Greatest,‘ I never said I was the smartest!

The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‚If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?‘ But… the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‚If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?‘

I didn’t want to be a writer, but I became one. And now I have many readers, in many countries. I think that’s a miracle. So I think I have to be humble regarding this ability. I’m proud of it and I enjoy it, and it is strange to say it this way, but I respect it.

Just as the wave cannot exist for itself, but is ever a part of the heaving surface of the ocean, so must I never live my life for itself, but always in the experience which is going on around me.

I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.

I was never focused on me, me, me all the time. I was always focused on somebody else.

The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.

The arrogance of age must submit to be taught by youth.

The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk.

The law of sacrifice is uniform throughout the world. To be effective it demands the sacrifice of the bravest and the most spotless.

There is that in the glance of a flower which may at times control the greatest of creation’s braggart lords.

My problem is I am Christian, so I think other people must have success, too; it’s not about me.

The faults of a superior person are like the sun and moon. They have their faults, and everyone sees them; they change and everyone looks up to them.

I’m just like you – I want to be a good human being. I’m doing my best, and I’m working at it. And I’m trying to be a Christian. I’m always amazed when people walk up to me and say, ‚I’m a Christian.‘ I always think, ‚Already? You’ve already got it?‘ I’m working at it. And at my age, I’ll still be working at it at 96.

People who add value to others do so intentionally. I say that because to add value, leaders must give of themselves, and that rarely occurs by accident.

Undeserved praise causes more pangs of conscience later than undeserved blame, but probably only for this reason, that our power of judgment are more completely exposed by being over praised than by being unjustly underestimated.

Many people look at me and think they know me but they don’t at all. This is the real me. I am a humble person, a feeling person. A person who cares about others, who wants to help others.

Whenever I’m around some who is modest, I think, ‚Run like hell and all of fire.‘ You don’t want modesty, you want humility.

A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.

No one has ever become poor by giving.

Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people.

Earn your success based on service to others, not at the expense of others.

If you care about other people, you might try to organize to undermine power and authority. That’s not going to happen if you care only about yourself.

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity.

This is the hardest of all: to close the open hand out of love, and keep modest as a giver.

I know nothing, except the fact of my ignorance.

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.

The sage does not hoard. The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself, The more he gives to others, the more he gets himself. The Way of Heaven does one good but never does one harm. The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.

There are slavish souls who carry their appreciation for favors done them so far that they strangle themselves with the rope of gratitude.

I am not ashamed to confess that I am ignorant of what I do not know.

There’s a belief that you’re supposed to be poor, and suffering, and show your humility. I just don’t see the Bible that way. I see that God came and Jesus died so that we might live an abundant life and be a blessing to others.

A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out.

‚Thank you‘ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.

I don’t know if I’m selfless – I still want to make a great record. I want to make a hit record. I want to tour; that’s not completely selfless. But the truth is I’m not interested in people coming to my show for me as much as I am for them coming to my show for themselves. That’s always been how I am.

I don’t need to be vindicated, and I don’t want attention.

I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by my friends to become a candidate for the Legislature. My politics are short and sweet, like the old woman’s dance.

I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.

I’m not talent. Not considered ‚talent‘ by Lifetime. I’d like to say I’m their savior, but that would be cocky.

Many Tibetans sacrifice their lives.

Just because I managed to do a little something, I don’t want anyone back home to think I got the big head.

There is an innocence in admiration; it is found in those to whom it has never yet occurred that they, too, might be admired some day.

Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.

I set records that will never be equaled. In fact, I hope 90% of them don’t even get printed.

We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne.

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‚What’s in it for me?‘

The best author will be the one who is ashamed to become a writer.

I do not see myself as a celebrity or an icon or things like that… I have not really done anything.

It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.

The need to be right is the sign of a vulgar mind.

The most virtuous are those who content themselves with being virtuous without seeking to appear so.

None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear.

The utmost extent of man’s knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing.

In this big ball of people, I’m just one grain of sand on this beach.

The thing about Jiu Jitsu is it is also not for everybody. It can be very humiliating and humbling. If you have a hard time dealing with the fact that someone smaller than you may be able to tap you out, it is going to be difficult.

I’m generous. I give good tips. It’s just – the way I live my life, ironically enough, is: I don’t want anything. I’m not a consumer. I don’t crave objects.