Skip to content
quotesby

'My good Horse,' said the Hermit... 'My good Horse, you've lost nothing but your self-conceit. No, no, cousin. Don't put back your ears and shake your mane at me. If you are really so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense. You're not quite the great Horse you had come to think, from living among poor dumb horses. Of course you were braver and cleverer than them. You could hardly help being that. It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia. But as long as you know you're nobody special, you'll be a very decent sort of Horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another....' (ch. 10)

C. S. Lewis#115

GrowthHumilityLearningCharacterEgo

About this quote

What does it mean?
Humility requires accepting you are not special compared to others.
In plain terms
Stop acting special; learn to listen.
What can you take from it?
True greatness comes from humility.

Where it applies

  • mentorship
  • conflict resolution
  • self-improvement

Putting it to work

  • listen more
  • reduce pride
  • serve others

Questions to consider

  • Are you listening or boasting?
  • Do you need to learn?

Another view

Too much humility can lead to self-neglect.

More from C. S. Lewis

  1. 'It's a lion, I know it's a lion,' thought Shasta. 'I'm done. I wonder, will it hurt much? I wish it was over. I wonder, does anything happen to people after t…

    Permalink to quote #114
  2. 'I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you…

    Permalink to quote #116
  3. What do they teach them at these schools? (ch. 17)

    Permalink to quote #113

Related quotes

  1. Intelligence: 'An intelligent person is never afraid or ashamed to find errors in his understanding of things.'

    Bryant McGillBryant McGill quote #56
  2. The man who realizes his ignorance has taken the first step toward knowledge.

    Max HeindelMax Heindel quote #1
  3. Ancora Imparo

    Michelangelo BuonarrotiMichelangelo Buonarroti quote #2