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Humility is the luxurious art of reducing ourselves to a point, not to a small thing or a large one, but to a thing with no size at all, so that to it all the cosmic things are what they really are - of immeasurable stature. That the trees are high and the grasses short is a mere accident of our own foot-rules and our own stature. But to the spirit which has stripped off for a moment its own idle temporal standards the grass is an everlasting forest, with dragons for denizens; the stones of the road are as incredible mountains piled one upon the other; the dandelions are like gigantic bonfires illuminating the lands around; and the heath-bells on their stalks are like planets hung in heaven each higher than the other.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton#59

HumilityPerceptionSpiritualityNatureWonder

About this quote

What does it mean?
Humility shrinks the self so the world appears vast and meaningful again, transforming ordinary things into wonders.
In plain terms
Being small inside makes the world feel big and amazing.
What can you take from it?
Use humility to rediscover wonder.

Where it applies

  • nature appreciation
  • spiritual practice
  • mindfulness

Putting it to work

  • practice gratitude
  • observe nature closely

Questions to consider

  • When did you last feel awe?
  • How does size affect meaning?

Another view

Extreme self-reduction can lead to loss of agency or self-worth.

More from Gilbert Keith Chesterton

  1. A beetle may or may not be inferior to a man - the matter awaits demonstration; but if he were inferior by ten thousand fathoms, the fact remains that there is…

    Permalink to quote #58
  2. There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect. Men do not quarrel about the meaning of sunsets; they never dispute that the …

    Permalink to quote #60
  3. It is always the secure who are humble.

    Permalink to quote #57

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