Humility

"Humility is not only about knowledge but, even more, about control. Perhaps that is why we love to watch great storms: not because we are in love with destruction but because we need to be small, even if we do not know it. We have become so big, and nature so small, so empty of mystery by science, of danger by technology, and of poetry by rationalism, that we no longer feel confronted by something that we are even tempted to worship as a god or goddess, something greater than ourselves. I believe that if you are not even tempted to worship the sun, the sea, or the stars, if you think of the sun as a very large radiator and the sea as a very large sink, you have lost part of your soul.

"At the beach we know that we are children, that civilization is sand castles, and that life is play. Even Sir Isaac Newton said, shortly before his death, 'To myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea shore…while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.'

"Humility does not mean having a low opinion of yourself; it means having no opinion of yourself. It means being carried on waves of wonder in the presence of something so big and beautiful that you forget yourself. We are never quite happy when we think of ourselves, for we either think of ourselves as great, and become proud; or ugly, and become sad; or neither, and become bored. That is why humility, after the first shock, is pleasant, not painful. We are designed for that pleasure: the pleasure of a small child in a large house. We love the sea because it reminds us of that house. It feels like our home—not biologically but psychologically. We need to be small."

- Peter Kreeft, "The Riddle of the Sea"

Let not self-centeredness take hold of you; at the first sign of self-indulgence, fall on your knees and pray...and pray only for others, never for your own self.