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.

If you modestly enjoy your fame you are not unworthy to rank with the holy.

The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month.

Do you wish people to think well of you? Don’t speak well of yourself.

It was both fascinating and appalling to learn that chimpanzees were capable of hostile and territorial behavior that was not unlike certain forms of primitive human warfare.

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.

One thing I hope I’ll never be is drunk with my own power. And anybody who says I am will never work in this town again.

So let’s be honest with ourselves and not take ourselves too serious, and never condemn the other fellow for doing what we are doing every day, only in a different way.

Be the chief but never the lord.

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.

If anything is good for pounding humility into you permanently, it’s the restaurant business.

Be smarter than other people, just don’t tell them so.

It is hard for the ape to believe he descended from man.

Even an animal, if you show genuine affection, gradually trust develops… If you always showing bad face and beating, how can you develop friendship?

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.

Fondly we think we honor merit then, When we but praise ourselves in other men.

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.

Humility is to make a right estimate of one’s self.

Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.

A great man is always willing to be little.

No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.

It is not part of a true culture to tame tigers, any more than it is to make sheep ferocious.

Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair.

Stay humble and be concerned for the less fortunate.

The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don’t know nothing. I mean, that’s my life lesson.

I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough in me to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.

No one but a fool is always right.

We learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean… and we were taught to value everyone’s contribution and treat everyone with respect.

What an ugly beast the ape, and how like us.

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.

A man who is eating or lying with his wife or preparing to go to sleep in humility, thankfulness and temperance, is, by Christian standards, in an infinitely higher state than one who is listening to Bach or reading Plato in a state of pride.

Primate and elephant and even pig societies show considerable evidence of care for others, parent-child bonding, solidarity in the face of danger, and so on.

I’m not a god – I do bad things.

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.

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

I’m honest enough to say I don’t know everything. You know, I don’t. I don’t understand all of God. I don’t understand, you know, some kind of why bad things happen.

Nevertheless, it is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man.

When you know a thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it – this is knowledge.

I have never yet seen any plan which has not been mended by the observations of those who were much inferior in understanding to the person who took the lead in the business.

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

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.

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

I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn’t know.

I’m a religious woman. And I feel I have responsibility. I have no modesty at all. I’m even afraid of it – it’s a learned affectation and it’s just stuck on me like decals. Now I pray for humility because that comes from inside out.

The nobler a man, the harder it is for him to suspect inferiority in others.

I never knew a more presumptuous person than myself. The fact that I say that shows that what I say is true.

Bears are very nice, as long as you are nice to them.

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

We start out a million years ago in a small community on some grassy plain; we hunt animals, have children, and develop a rich social, sexual, and intellectual life, but we know almost nothing about our surroundings.

Leaders who fail to prune their pride will meet demise. That’s not a guess, it’s a guarantee. With pride, it’s not a matter of ‚if‘ we will fall, but ‚when.‘ There are no exceptions.

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.

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

We can’t all be heroes, because somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by.

In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride.

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.

There was my name up in lights. I said, ‚God, somebody’s made a mistake.‘ But there it was, in lights. And I sat there and said, ‚Remember, you’re not a star.‘ Yet there it was up in lights.

I believe the first test of a truly great man is in his humility.

Let us be absolutely clear about one thing: we must not confuse humility with false modesty or servility.

I desire to press forward for direction to my Master in all things; but as to trusting to my own obedience and righteousness, I should be worse than a fool and ten times worse than a madman.

It disturbs me no more to find men base, unjust, or selfish than to see apes mischievous, wolves savage, or the vulture ravenous.

Don’t let your ego get too close to your position, so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn’t go with it.