Humility: The Quiet Virtue

Humility is a virtue that can be difficult to describe because of its paradoxical nature claiming authority about humility suggests a lack of humility. Yet, in Humility, Everett L. Worthington Jr. is able to talk about humility and to inspire people to be more humblewith humility. He begins with a reader selfassessment exercise, inviting people to assess themselves and recognize humility in those among them. He suggests people as examples Jesus, Siddhartha, Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King. He examines the characteristics of humility they share and in doing so, formulates a working definition of humility. Science has made few attempts to measure humility, Worthington points out and humility is not a skill we can learn. But people can be inspired to be humble and they can aspire to humility. Great peopleand ordinary people acting noblycan inspire us, Worthington writes. When we catch the spirit, we can transfer that spirit from ourselves to others. Quotations interspersed throughout the book reinforce the message that the unassuming virtue of humility transforms lives.