Is humility a moral quality or a weakness of character?


Welcome to the third post in the series of ‘Moral qualities’.
Let’s start with searching for what could humility mean; for which I shall look into the meaning of the word first, followed by analysing humility as a concept.
The dictionary meaning of the word is most commonly described from ‘modest view of self’ to ‘meekness’; from ‘humbleness’ to ‘lack of pride’.
Since I am a practitioner of the Law of Attraction, I would naturally be inclined to consider ‘high regard’ for self, without being conceited. I think this definition is within the parameters of  ‘modesty’, without being ‘meek’.
Meekness is submissiveness which is overrated as a virtue by those institutes that would like to control- I think the readers are intelligent enough to understand what these establishments could be.
The only version of submitting-ness I agree with is to the will of the Universe, the Omni-energy.  So, positive submitting-ness- Yes! Submissiveness – A big fat No!
Now, let’s see what Humility could mean as a concept. One of the motivational quotes I’ve written says- ‘ I am nice, but not naive.’ So, in this light, humility could be to forgive but always remember ‘why’ someone needed your forgiveness in the first place, so you don’t get deceived or offended yet again. Mistakes can be time-consuming, and time is of prime essence in life- so setting yourself to be fooled again would be losing precious energy and time. Moving on to another aspect of humility, as described in textbooks – ‘lack of vanity’. I’ll say that I categorically agree with this translation of the word, in both its forms- egoism and egotism.
However, defining humility as ‘lack of pride’ doesn’t sit entirely comfortable with my moral sense. Pride signifies a sense of satisfaction with ‘own’ achievements. In this sense, it’s a recognition well earned. In fact, one should be ‘proud’ of own self with a positive mindset. The opposite of this would be low self-esteem, and I am sure a humble person should not feel ashamed of himself because someone else has imposed the thought on him or he is totally detached from the real ‘self’.
Now that the difference between vanity and pride is cleared up, time to move on to the last term of the analysis, relevant to this article.
Humility is also described as being ‘unassertive’ – unassertiveness can be defined as a person who would give up easily or without resistance. Assertiveness, on the other hand, would mean confidence, as an antonym. So, being ‘unassertive’ would mean a lack of confidence, which of course is a negative vibe, while confidence is a must quality to build belief in both, self and God.
Hence, humility is a noble trait, which is misinterpreted often under the guise of moral doctrine. In reality, humility is so different and so much more.
I am glad that my sense of humility made me a spiritual seeker, raising positive vibrations in the process. If this is not morality then what is?  

4 thoughts on “Is humility a moral quality or a weakness of character?

    1. Hi Craig,
      I am pleased to have read the beautiful piece- ‘We learn Hope in the valleys, and humility on the mountain tops.’ I have taken the liberty to reblog it on my site- hope ok with you. 🙏🎉

      Like

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