St. Vincent de Paul wrote, “The reason why God is so great a lover of humility is because he is the great lover of truth. Now humility is nothing but truth, while pride is nothing but lying.”
Jesus said, “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29). Humility in words and deeds must flow from humility of the heart. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “An interior disposition to humility puts its seal upon the words, gestures, and acts by means of which that which is hidden within is manifested on the outside.”
St. Francis de Sales disliked humility in words unless they clearly came from the heart, and said that words of this kind were the flower, the cream, and the quintessence of the most subtle pride, subtle inasmuch as it was hidden even from him who spoke them.
He recommended people not to speak either in praise or blame of themselves unless doing so is absolutely necessary.
He said, “As for boasting, it is so ridiculous a weakness that it is hissed down by even the vulgar crowd. Its one fitting place is in the mouth of a swaggering comedian. In like manner words of contempt spoken of ourselves by ourselves, unless they are absolutely heartfelt and come from a mind thoroughly convinced of the fact of its own misery, are truly the very acme of pride, and a flower of the most subtle vanity; for it rarely happens that he who utters them either believes them himself or really wishes others to believe them: on the contrary, the speaker is mostly only anxious rather to be considered humble, and consequently virtuous, and seeks that his self-blame should redound to his honour. Self-dispraise in general is no more than a tricky kind of boasting. It reminds me of oarsmen who turn their backs on the very place which with all the strength of their arms they are striving to reach.”
There are two doctrinal truths which serve as the basis of humility: nothing and grace. We are created by God out of nothing. Father Gabriel wrote, “If we take away from ourselves what is of God, we will find that of ourselves we are nothing, or rather less than nothing, for nothingness is incapable of offending God, while we have this said capability.”
St. Therese, the Little Flower, said, “The remembrance of my weakness is so constantly present to me that there is no room for vanity.”
In the supernatural order we need the grace of Jesus, who said, “Without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5).
Father Gabriel pointed out: “In order to perform even the tiniest supernatural act we need God’s help; we need actual grace which prevents us by its inspirations and accompanies us in the act until it is accomplished.”
St. Paul asked, “What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” (1 Cor 4:7).
Peter Kreeft, in his book Back to Virtue, wrote, “Humility is thinking less about yourself, not thinking less of yourself. Pride is wilful arrogance, arrogating to yourself what is really God’s.”
Humility has God at the centre, whereas pride has self at the centre. Our Lady said, “Be it done to me according to Your word,” whereas Lucifer said, “I will not serve.”
Two important elements in our Catholic religion which enable us to focus on God rather than self are: conformity to the will of God, and holy obedience. Adam and Eve failed in humility by disobeying the will of God. Jesus and Mary repaired the wound of human pride through obedience to the will of God.
In the secular world, progress is associated with independence, but in the spiritual life, the more progress we make, the more completely dependent we become on God.
謙遜不是什麼只是真誠
聖文生寫道：「天主為何如此鍾愛謙遜，因為祂鍾愛真理。謙遜之內只有真實，驕傲中只有謊言。」
耶穌說：『跟我學吧! 因為我是良善心謙的。』(瑪竇11:29) 聖多默·阿奎那寫道：『謙遜的言行，來自一顆謙遜的心態。藏於內心的，顯示於外。』
聖方濟各、沙雷氏不喜歡口頭上的謙遜除非它是清楚地來自內心，並說。這些口頭上的只是一朶花，一些奶油，是典型的不易察覺的驕傲，微妙地隱藏著，甚至說話的人自己也不察覺。他建議除非在絕對需要的光景裡，不要說讚揚或譴責自己的說話。他說：『誇耀，它是這般荒謬的缺點，甚至最庸俗的人也竊語否認。它只適合於一個地方，就是在於那些趾高氣揚喜劇演員的口中。同樣自責的說話，出於自己口中，除非它是絕對衷心的並來自腦海中完全認知痛苦事實中，它是驕傲的巔峰，這是最不易察覺的虛榮；說這些話的人，他們會自己相信或真的希望他人相信。相反地，說話的人多數只希望被視為謙遜，隨之是德行，希望他的自責為他帶來尊敬。自我貶斥一般不外是一個誇耀的詭計。它讓我想到那些槳手們背著他們要去的方向，盡他們的手臂力量奮鬥划行。』
「虛無」與「聖寵」的真理使人謙遜。佳播神父又寫道：「假如從我們之中取走屬於天主的，我們便歸於虛無，甚至比虛無更壞；因為虛無不能冒犯天主，但我們有冒犯天主的能力。」
聖女小德蘭說：「我時常記得自己的軟弱，以致虛榮無處藏身。」
更甚者，是我們需要耶穌的聖寵；祂謂：「離開了我，你們什麼也不能作。（若望福音15:5）」佳播神父補充說：「最緲少的超性行為，仍缺不了天主的聖寵，也只有依靠天主的寵佑護著我們，不致半途而廢。」
聖保祿反問：「你有什麼不是領受的呢？既然是領受的，為什麼你還誇耀，好像不是領受的呢？（聖保祿宗徒致格林多人前書4:7）」
伯鐸.奇斐在他的「回歸德行」的箸作寫著：「謙遜是忘我，而不是自卑。驕傲是故意妄自自大，並擅取那屬於天主的。」謙遜以天主為中心，驕傲以自己為中心。聖母說：「願你的話在我身上成就罷」。撒旦路濟弗爾說：「我不事奉」。
「順從主旨」和「服從」使我們能以天主為中心。原祖父母不謙遜，便叛逆了天主的聖旨；耶穌和聖母，因服從天主的聖意，療修了人類因驕傲造成的創傷。
在世俗中，個人的成就和進步往往以「獨立性」來衡量。但在神修生活中，我們愈進步就愈依恃天主。