To esteem thyself is to forget what thou art. Consider thyself in reference to God; reflect on what He is
and what thou art in His sight... If thou art truly wise, thou wilt rejoice in God alone, thou wilt hope
in God alone; for none is good but God alone, Who is to be praised above all and to be blessed in all.
Fr. Gabriel:
“Humility makes us realize that, in the sight of God, we are only his little creature, entirely dependent upon him for our existence and for all our works. Having received life from God, we cannot subsist even one moment independently of him. He who gave us existence by his creative action, maintains life in us by his conserving action.” (Divine Intimacy)
“If our deficiencies are to be filled up by love, then the vain pretenses of pride must be made low by humility. A heart filled with self-love and pride cannot be filled with God, and too small will be the place reserved in it for the sweet Babe of Bethlehem.” (Divine Intimacy)
"This is our position in regard to God: we have nothing of our own; all that we are and have comes from Him, and in return for His infinite generosity, we can do nothing but use His gifts to express our gratitude to Him." (Divine Intimacy) "The knowledge of our weakness ought to make us keenly aware of our need for God; indeed, our weakness itself ought to be an incessant cry, begging with complete confidence for His all-powerful aid." (Divine Intimacy) "This is our position in regard to God: we have nothing of our own; all that we are and have comes from Him, and in return for His infinite generosity, we can do nothing but use His gifts to express our gratitude to Him." (Divine Intimacy)
“Humility makes us realize that, in the sight of God, we are only his little creature, entirely dependent upon him for our existence and for all our works. Having received life from God, we cannot subsist even one moment independently of him. He who gave us existence by his creative action, maintains life in us by his conserving action.” (Divine Intimacy)
St. Leo:
"Man does no good which God does not assist him to do." Father Jaques Philippe:
"...The first thing of which we must be convinced is that all the good we can do comes from God and from Him alone: Apart from me, you can do nothing, Jesus said (John 15:5) He didn't say you can't do much, but, you can do nothing. It is essential that we be persuaded of this truth. We often have to experience failures, trials, and humiliations, permitted by God, before this truth imposes itself on us... They are necessary in order that we should be convinced of our complete powerlessness to do good by ourselves. According to the testimony of all the saints, it is indispensable for us to acquire this knowledge ... This is why St. Therese of Lisieux would say that the best thing God could of done in her soul was 'to have shown her smallness, her powerlessness.'" (Searching for and Maintaining Peace)
St. Paul of the Cross:
Acknowledge simply that all your endeavors are vain unless God crowns them with success.
"If anyone thought to sweeten the vast waters of the sea with one drop of fresh water, would he not be justly regarded as a fool? So also the man who thinks or hopes to do any good without the help of God grievously deceives himself. If he claims any good as his own, God will not fail to humble and confound him; such a man could never become the Lord's instrument, nor accomplish great things for His glory."
R. P. Quadrupani:
"Some persons have the erroneous idea that in order to be humble they must not recognize in themselves any virtue or talent whatsoever. The reverse is the case according to Saint Thomas, for he says it is necessary to realize the gifts we have received that we may return thanks for them to Him from whom we hold them. To ignore them is to fail in gratitude towards God, and to neglect the object for which He gave them to us. All we have to do is avoid the folly of taking glory to ourselves because of them. The praise must be always referred to God; for they are His gifts that are praised in us, we are but their bearers and custodians and shall one day render to Him an account for them. It is even good and sometimes necessary to make known the gifts we have received from God and the good works of which divine grace has made us instruments, when this manifestation can conduce to the glory of His name, the welfare of the Church, or the edification of the faithful." (Light and Peace)
St. Augustine:
"Without You, what am I to myself but a guide to my own self-destruction?" Jean-Baptise Chautard:
“My efforts, by themselves, are nothing, absolutely nothing. ‘Without Me you can do nothing.’ They will only be useful, and blessed by God, if by means of a genuine interior life I unite them constantly to the life-giving actions of Jesus. But then they will become all-powerful: ‘I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.’ But should they spring from pride and self-satisfaction, from confidence in my own talents, from the desire to shine, they will be rejected by God: for would it not be a sacrilegious madness for me to steal, from God, a little of His glory in order to decorate and beautify myself?” (The Soul of the Apostolate)
St. Teresa of Avila:
“Lord, You see how often I fail, but I am never astonished at it ... I enter into myself and say: Alas, I am once more at the first step as before! But I say this in great peace without sadness, because I know that You know perfectly how fragile is our nature and You are always ready to help us. What, then, shall I fear? As soon as You see me fully convinced of my nothingness, You stretch out Your hand to me; but if I should try to do something great, even under the pretext of zeal, You desert me. So all I have to do is humble myself, to bear with meekness my imperfections. Herein lies, for me, true holiness.”
St. Therese:
“After seven years in the religious life, I still am weak and imperfect. I always feel, however, the same bold confidence of becoming a great saint because I don't count on my merits since I have none, but I trust in Him who is Virtue and Holiness. God alone, content with my weak efforts, will raise me to Himself and make me a saint, clothing me in His infinite merits.”
"When we observe in ourselves a desire for something brilliant, let us humbly take our place with the imperfect and know that we are weak souls who must be sustained every instant by God."
St. Isaac Jogues:
"My confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for the accomplishment of His designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and to be faithful to Him, and not to spoil His work by our shortcomings."
St. Alphonsus Ligouri: "The truly humble reject all praise for themselves and refer it all to God." St. Augustine:
“I have sometimes placed my hopes in my own virtue, which was no virtue; and when I attempted to run thinking I was very strong, I fell very quickly and went backward instead of forward. What I expected to reach, disappeared, and thus, O Lord, in various ways, You have tested my powers. With light from You, I now see that I could not accomplish by myself the things that I wanted to do most. I said to myself, ‘I shall do this, I shall finish that,” and I did not do either the one or the other. The will was there but not the power, and if the power was there then my will was not; this because I had trusted in my own strength. Sustain me then, O Lord, for alone I can do nothing. However, when You are my stability, then it is true stability. When I am my own stability, then it is weakness.”
My Daily Bread; Chapter 66, Foolish Pride:
“Whatever good things you possess, do not think too highly of yourself. Let God be your treasure and let everything else take second place. Whether you are rich, or powerful, or popular, or attractive, remember the plain truth about yourself and you will not become a victim of foolish pride. Whatever good is in you belongs to God. The things of which men so often boast, are God’s. Their talents, abilities, and circumstances, God placed them at their disposal. He could have just as easily given these gifts to someone else. Beware of becoming too proud of your deeds; without God, you can do nothing. You are completely dependent on God for your next breath. This knowledge should make you fear all pride and self-satisfaction. You can never be impressed deeply enough by your nothingness. Of yourself, and without God’s gifts, you are nothing. This fact is the basis of all humility. Pride is based on false self-esteem. My God, lover of truth, only you are great by Your very nature. All other greatness, virtue, and goodness are Your gifts to us. Have mercy on this proud heart of mine. Please impress me with the truth of my nothingness. Then will I, at last, become kind, considerate, and charitable to those around me. Grant me your grace, dear Lord, and I will never again, in thought or action, raise myself above anyone else. Kill the pride within me, even if you have to humble me before others. Only spare me the terrible humiliation of having the whole world see my ugly pride at the Last Judgement. Amen.”
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