Humility too often sounds like a dirty word in our culture. It goes against the dominant values of competition, self-promotion, and egotism. Prominent figures seldom exhibit anything like it. Sometimes we see weak attempts at false modesty, but only rare and special leaders are truly humble. The Dalai Lama comes to mind, but not many others.
This is unfortunate. Humility not only fosters cooperation within society, it promotes mental health. Alcoholics Anonymous has figured this out, and of course most spiritual systems advocate against excessive pride. But as a general principle of psychiatric wellness, we seldom hear of it.
The problem is that people misunderstand the word. We hear talk about the importance of self-esteem, and we suspect humility implies lack of belief in oneself. But the truth is we can’t be genuinely humble without first being confident of our worth. We all understand that the people who talk themselves up the most are often the ones who feel the most insecure. The converse, also true, is less well known. Those who feel more love and respect for themselves have less concern about proving themselves to society.
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Adam
7:14 pm on
January 25th, 2010This is a beautiful article packed with profound truth.
Thank you very much!
Adam–
I’m glad it resonates for you. Thank you for the compliment.
–Will
Will
Another great article. I am so pleased to see you on this site. You certainly deserve it. Congratulations
David
7:12 am on
March 27th, 2010“As hard as it is to grasp, millions and billions of years will eventually pass, and sooner or later we will all be forgotten.”
After millions, whole civilizations will be forgotten. Heck, after billions even whole races, whole solar systems will be forgotten! 
David–
As I mentioned in the article, people are forgotten (in almost all cases) within five generations if not sooner. But with the passage of much longer times humanity and finally (as you point out) earth itself will no longer exist. I find that very humbling, in a helpful way.
–Will
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