#Modesty Quotes

“They may seizeOn the white wonder of dear Juliet's handAnd steal immortal blessing from her lips,Who, even in pure and vestal modesty,Still blush, as thinking their own kisses sin.”

“There's not a note of mine that's worth the noting.”

“We wound our modesty and make foul the clearness of our deservings, when of ourselves we publish them.”

“It is the witness still of excellency to put a strange face on his own perfection.”

“Not stepping over the bounds of modesty.”

“Can it be chat modesty may more betrayOur sense than woman's lightness?”

“No, by my soul, I never in my lifeDid hear a challenge urged more modestly,Unless a brother should a brother dareTo gentle exercise and proof of arms.”

“The bashful virgin's sidelong looks of love,The matron's glance that would those looks reprove.”

“In the modesty of fearful duty, I read as much as from the rattling tongue of saucy and audacious eloquence.”

“Atlee is a very modest man. And with reason.”

“Mr. Attlee is a very modest man. Indeed he has a lot to be modest about.”

“And keep you in the rear of your affection, Out of the shot and danger of desire, The chariest maid is prodigal enough If she unmasks her beauty to the moon.”

“At that moment of love, a moment when passion is absolutely silent under omnipotence of ecstasy, Marius, pure seraphic Marius, would have been more capable of visiting a woman of the streets than of raising Cosette’s dress above the ankle. Once on a moonlit night, Cosette stopped to pick up something from the ground, her dress loosened and revealed the swelling of her breasts. Marius averted his eyes.”

“The eye of a man should be still more reverent before the rising of a young maiden than before the rising of a star. The possibility of touch should increase respect. The down of the peach, the dust of the plum, the radiated crystal of snow, the butterfly’s wing powdered with feathers, are gross things beside that chastity that does not even know it is chaste. The young maiden is only the glimmer of a dream and is not yet statue. Her alcove is hidden in the shadows of the ideal. The indiscreet touch of the eye desecrates this dim penumbra. Here, to gaze, is to profane.”

“Most of a modest woman's life was spent, after all, in denying what, in one day at least of every year, was made obvious.”

“Never, never, you must never either of you remind a man at work on a political job that he may be President.”

“Always try to be modest, and be proud of it!”

“It is modest of the nightingale not to require anyone to listen to it; but it is also proud of the nightingale not to care whether any one listens to it or not.”

“In childhood be modest, in youth temperate, in adulthood just, and in old age prudent.”

“It is only very ugly or very beautiful women who ever hide their faces .”

“I was born modest, but it didn't last.”

“If a man knew anything, he would sit in a corner and be modest; but he is such an ignorant peacock, that he goes bustling up and down, and hits on extraordinary discoveries.”

“Only when painting isn't painting can there be an affront to modesty.”

“Modesty is a learned affectation. And as soon as life slams the modest person against the wall, that modesty drops.”

“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.”

“Modesty is a learned affectation. It's no good. Humility is great, because humility says, 'There was someone before me. I'm following in somebody's footsteps.'”

“It is often found that modesty and humility not only do no good, but are positively hurtful, when they are shown to the arrogant who have taken up a prejudice against you, either from envy or from any other cause.”

“Genuine wisdom is usually conspicuous through modesty and silence.”

“Timidity makes a person modest. It makes him or her say, "I'm not worthy of being written up in the record of deeds in heaven or on earth." Timidity keeps people from their good. They are afraid to say, "Yes, I deserve it."”

“Your body is sacred. You’re far more precious than diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too.”

“Modesty died when clothes were born.”

“The greatest ornament of an illustrious life is modesty and humility, which go a great way in the character even of the most exalted princes.”

“I don't think modesty is a very good virtue, if it is a virtue at all. A modest person will drop the modesty in a minute. It's a learned affectation.”

“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.”

“I was born modest; not all over, but in spots.”

“I have no modesty. Modesty is a learned affectation. It's like decal stuck up on a person.”

“The sage wears clothes of coarse cloth but carries jewels in his bosom; He knows himself but does not display himself; He loves himself but does not hold himself in high esteem.”

“The man who is ostentatious of his modesty is twin to the statue that wears a fig-leaf.”

“He who has little will receive. He who has much will be embarrassed.”

“Be merciful, moderate, and modest.”

“The higher our position the more modestly we should behave.”

“The chief recommendation is modesty, then dutiful conduct toward parents, then affection for kindred.”

“Modesty is that feeling by which honorable shame acquires a valuable and lasting authority.”

“To win countrywide victory is only the first step in a long march of ten thousand li.... The Chinese revolution is great, but the road after the revolution will be longer, the work greater and more arduous. This must be made clear now in the Party. The comrades must be helped to remain modest, prudent and free from arrogance and rashness in their style of work. The comrades must be helped to preserve the style of plain living and hard struggle.”

“Knowledge is a matter of science and no dishonesty or conceit whatsoever is permissible. What is required is definitely the reverse - honesty and modesty.”

“He takes the greatest ornament from friendship, who takes modesty from it.[Lat., Maximum ornamentum amicitiae tollit, qui ex ea tollit verecudiam.]”

“He who obeys with modesty appears worthy of being some day a commander.”

“Science offends the modesty of all real women. It makes them feel as though it were an attempt to peek under their skin--or, worseyet, under their dress and ornamentation!”

“Those who show off do not shine.”

“Generosity wins favour for everyone, especially when it is accompanied by modesty.”