Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Demanding nothing from the powerful ensures they offer more voluntarily.
In plain terms
Don't ask, and you may receive.
What can you take from it?
Humility attracts generosity.

Where it applies

  • negotiations
  • social dynamics

Putting it to work

  • be humble to gain

Questions to consider

  • When should you ask?
  • Does humility work always?

Another view

It encourages passivity.

More from Mikhail Bulgakov

  1. 'Don't be afraid, Queen ... don't be afraid, Queen, the blood has long since gone into the earth. And where it was spilled, grapevines are already growing.'

    Permalink to quote #10
  2. 'Unfortunately I cannot show it to you,' replied the master, 'because I burned it in my stove.' 'I'm sorry but I don't believe you,' said Woland. 'You can't ha…

    Permalink to quote #9
  3. 'I had the pleasure of meeting that young man at the Patriarch's Ponds. He almost drove me mad myself, proving to me that I don't exist. But you do believe tha…

    Permalink to quote #13

Related quotes

  1. C'est une grande habilete que de savoir cacher son habilete.

    Francois de La RochefoucauldFrancois de La Rochefoucauld quote #66
  2. Brer Fox, he lay low.

    Joel Chandler HarrisJoel Chandler Harris quote #1
  3. Upon this, one has to remark that men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones …

    Niccolo MachiavelliNiccolo Machiavelli quote #1